Forever Mine
by Mackenzie Akel
Summary: Meeting up with the past is not always delighting, especially when that event has broken you completely. Zhalia faces a similar situation, and she has no way but to return to it.
1. Prologue

**FOREVER MINE**

**PROLOGUE**

**Zhalia**

**6 years ago**

**Outskirts of the Organization**

**Prague, Czech Republic**

"Here, I've invented a new spell and I want you to master it." Klaus said to me.

"Is that my birthday gift?" I asked him.

He chuckled and said, "No, Zhalia dear! You'll get your gift soon!" Saying this, he handed me a scroll which contained the power.

"Mindsight? This is the spell?' I asked him as I read the matter written on the scroll.

"Is there anything wrong with it?" he asked me.

"What good it will be to me if I get to know what others are thinking? Won't I be invading their privacy?"

"Do you actually care about all that?" he asked me.

I thought for a while. Klaus always taught me never to think about the consequences.

_Just do what you've been told, Zhalia. Remember, in the end, it is the power which matters the most. _

"No, I don't care." I finally answered him.

"Good girl. We'll begin the practice soon. I'm visiting the professor to tell him about this new spell."

"So, all the Suits will know about it!"

"Only after you master it. I want you to be the best!" Saying this, he left the laboratory.

I always felt that Klaus was a super-weirdo. He invented so many weird things in the past that I always doubted the fact whether he really thought of me as his daughter or just another lab sample to test on. I couldn't be sure about the latter, because he never involved me in deadly experiments. He didn't have a good reputation either. I'd heard some of the Suits calling him 'mad scientist'. In spite of all this, I always thought of him as my father; the one who gave me a chance to prove my abilities.

"Hey, are you free now?" a sweet masculine voice came from the lab entrance.

It was Jonathan Wilson, Organization's top ranking Seeker. He was nicknamed as 'Professional Thief' Just because he was good at sneaking and stealing titans. I believed he could steal anything. He stole my breath, my first kiss and eventually my heart.

"I'm fine." I said.

He didn't answer me back. But, suddenly, he started dancing in front of me like a monkey, wearing a stupid looking party hat and holding a shimmering green balloon which said 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZEE!!". He tried his best to perform well, but in vain. I kept controlling myself, but failed instantly and laughed my heart out.

"Jo, stop it please! My stomach's aching!" I managed to say between my giggles.

"You find it funny?" he asked me in a serious tone.

"Hey, no offense, but you should improve your dancing skills. And, just remove that thing!" I said, pointing towards the party hat.

"I thought you'll like it………" he said, looking down at the floor. He was a sensitive guy.

"I never said I didn't like it. It's just a bit……you know….."

"Stupid?" he said.

"Dim." I said, not knowing what else to say.

"I think I should just go ahead with what I came here for." He said.

"So, what did you come here for?"

"To wish you happy birthday!"

"Is there anything else?"

"Yeah……I don't know how to say it……"

"Just go on!"

"Uh…..Zee……will you…..

"Uh-huh?"

"Will you………"

"Will I what?"

He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. He always did this whenever he felt nervous. He looked so adorable in that image.

"Will you marry me?" he suddenly blurted out.

"WHAT?!"

"Zee, I want to marry you!"

"Jo, are you okay?"

"Why? What's wrong? I just want to marry you!"

"You just don't understand!"

"Understand what, Zee? Don't you love me?"

"I do, Jo. But………..I'm only sixteen!"

"And I'm only eighteen, Zee! But I want you to be mine, forever!"

I stood there in silence. I was too shocked to say anything.

"Zee, I can explain this. I love you a lot. It's becoming harder for me to be away from you everyday! I can't even concentrate on my work and I just keep thinking about you, you and only you! I'm mad about you, and I'm pretty sure that this is not lust. It's love. I love you, Zhalia Moon. I want to be with you for the rest of my life! But, I'm not forcing you into this. I've made my decision. It's your turn now." Saying this, he left the place.

I loved him. I loved him a lot. It's becoming harder even for me to stay away from him. But, wasn't marriage an extreme option? But then, I saw it in his eyes. I saw that he cared for me, and that he wouldn't hurt me ever. He was desperate for me, but he respected my opinion too. He respected me, he loved me. Trail of thoughts went in and out of my head. I had to make a decision. I had made a decision.

"Jo?" I called out for him as soon as I reached his apartment, which was completely dark.

"I'm here." He said from somewhere. I had a bad night vision and couldn't make out where he was.

Then I saw a flicker of a candlelight coming from his bedroom. I went in and saw that he was lying on his bed, staring at me.

"Sorry about the darkness. There has been a power cut……"

Before he could complete his sentence, I closed all the gaps between us. His soft lips were moving perfectly with mine. He pulled me on the bed and I was lying underneath him. He planted light kisses on my neck, which caused me to moan.

"I don't think I'm ready…….." I managed to say.

"Don't worry. I'll wait." He said and got out of the bed.

"So, was that a goodbye kiss?" he asked me in a sad tone.

"No, that was a welcome kiss. Welcome to my personal life, forever!"

His eyes lighted up when I said those words. The next moment I was his lap, kissing him passionately. I knew my decision was right.

I was going to marry him soon.

**4 months later**

**The wedding day**

**Prague, Czech Republic**

"You look beautiful!" Sera, the bridesmaid, said to me.

"I look nervous."

"You know you're stupid! With that awesome gown, you should've got married the church way!"

"Jo wanted it to be quick. Court marriage was the best thing."

"Yeah, and I'm here as a stupid witness!"

"Even I'm here!" Rose, another Seeker close to me, said.

"It will be over in no time!"

"Speaking of time, does anybody know where HER Jo is?" Rose said.

"He must've got stuck into something….."

"Maybe, his toe got stuck in the tap of the bathtub!" Sera joked.

Neither I nor Rose laughed.

"C'mon, I was just trying to lighten you up, Zhalia!" Sera said.

"Don't worry, he'll come." Rose said.

We waited for quite a long time in front the court for a long time. Sera and Rose were trying to keep me entertained with their jokes, but inside I was very worried. Jo Still didn't come. Sera told me that we'd been waiting for past three hours. I knew he wasn't on e of those punctual people, but he'd never been this late before. I hoped there wasn't anything wrong with him. I had a feeling that something terrible was about to happen.

The sun had already hid behind the horizon. The sky was dark and there were no stars twinkling. Rose was resting her head on my shoulder. She had fallen asleep. Sera was already annoyed with all this, and decided to find out where he was. I looked at the sky. There were clear signs of the heavens bursting up. I was tired. I wanted to go home and lie down. I wanted Jo beside me.

After an hour or so, I saw Sera, running in my direction and breathing heavily.

"He's gone!" she said while taking deep breaths in between.

"What do you mean?" I asked her. Rose was awake by that time.

"I went to the Organization, where I got to know that he had resigned and left for Bucharest this afternoon!"

Her words struck me like lightning bolts. Jo had left me……….after he promised to marry me. He's such a liar! He cheated me! He broke me from inside! He stole everything from me; my happiness, my life! I felt stupid. I should've never agreed to marry him. I was a moron.

He left me.


	2. Fight for the Titan

**CHAPTER 1**

**FIGHT FOR THE TITAN**

**Dante**

**10:00 am**

**Chisinau, Moldavia**

**\**

"I've never been to Moldavia before!" Lok said, in a child-like manner.

"Even me! I hope it's a beautiful place!" Sophie said.

"Well, you can just see down. We're flying over it!" Zhalia said, in a bored tone.

"I hate you guys! You promised to give me a more comfortable bag!" Cherit complained.

"It's Lok's fault." Sophie simply said.

"Wow, wow……my fault? Who the hell burnt my new bag yesterday? It was the most comfortable one I had got for Cherit!"

I was looked outside and saw nothing but clouds. I was sleepy as I hadn't slept well last night.

"Are you okay?" Zhalia asked me. She looked quite concerned about me nowadays.

"Yeah, I'm just not completely awake." I said, while trying hard not to yawn.

"Okay…….maybe this will help you……." Saying this, she splashed water on my face from her bottle.

She started laughing so hard, something she rarely did; something which I loved. Soon I realized she wasn't the only one who was laughing. The passengers in the flight joined her. Even the air staffs couldn't hold themselves back and giggled.

"Are you crazy? What's wrong with you?" I asked her.

"I was just trying to lighten you up. You've been looking quite serious about the mission."

"It is serious. There's a report about a powerful titan resting somewhere in Chisinau."

"What is it called?"

"I'll give you the details once we get down. Also, remind me about revenging you." I said, giggling at her.

Ten minutes later, we were in the Chisinau airport, checking out. Out of us, Sophie had most number of suitcases. She had to take a cart while we all managed to carry our luggage ourselves. I wondered sometimes what she carried in those baggages. She never allowed anyone of us to look into them.

We took a cab and went straight towards a hotel. Unfortunately, there were only three rooms vacant. Hence, I decided to share the room with Lok, while giving the ladies their separate rooms.

"Alright Seekers, here's the mission. We've to go to the market place and find a Draco-Titan warrior, Nordrake. It is considered to be highly powerful, and we should do everything to get it."

"Hold on!" Sophie interrupted, "We will get this titan at the market place?"

"You mean we'll have to buy it?" Lok asked me.

I heard Zhalia sighing loudly.

"No, Lok. The reports say that there is a secret entrance to the cave where this titan could be found. We'll first have to find it." I said.

"So, what are we waiting for?" Zhalia said.

The market was a colorful place. I heard Zhalia admiring one of the feather hats she'd seen at a stall. Sophie was ready with money for a shopping session, but Lok controlled her. It had many exotic stuffs, right from amazingly colored beads to strange fruits and vegetables. People all around me kept talking in a language which I couldn't catch.

"They're speaking in Moldovan." Sophie whispered to me as if she read my thoughts.

I nodded and looked ahead. I had a certain feeling that the cave was somewhere near me. I saw an alley and motioned the others to move towards it. It was dark and looked as if the sun had never risen here. I could get a faint smell of a drain somewhere. It was quite filthy, with bins containing overflowing garbage. There were some things written and drawn on the walls in a pulp fiction manner. I saw some young girls in skimpy clothes, smoking and talking with some young guys who looked more like goons. One of them even dared to wink at Zhalia. She looked down with a bland expression. I moved closer to her and held her firmly by her waist, in 'she's my girl' kind of a way. It took me a moment to realize what I'd done and I backed. But Zhalia didn't seem to notice it. Or, she just ignored it.

Lok tapped on my shoulder and pointed me towards my right, where I saw a faint blue light.

In no more than a second, we were inside a cave, which had a tint of blue. It was beautiful. There were certain stones embedded on the walls of the cave, which were probably some kind of crystals. They were twinkling like some stars. The whole scenery was just so mesmerizing.

"Augurfrost!" I heard someone yelling behind me. I turned and saw a team of Suits and an injured Lok. Sophie looked after him while I kept Zhalia as my backup. It was strange why I always chose her to team up with me. It would come naturally to me.

"We'll have to get out of here!" I said to Zhalia.

"I don't think we can. We are trapped!"

"She's right, Dante. You're trapped!" another deep voice said.

"Nice joke, Rassimov." I screamed at him.

"Good to know that you like my sense of humor. Now get ready to die!" Saying this, he and the Suits started attacking us. Lok was okay now, but still weak to fight. Sophie was with Lok, trying her best to protect her. Zhalia was fighting with full power. I wanted to help her even after knowing that defeating the Suits was a child's play for her. I had to take care of this Rassimov. Ever since Defoe left, he's become another headache for me. The negative point was that he knew how to control his powers and was a far better fighter than Defoe.

The fight was turning against us. Sophie was badly injured. Lok tried to fight but couldn't keep up. I was tired and Zhalia……………where was she?

Suddenly, I felt something hard on my face and realized that Rassimov had given a powerful punch. I fell near his feet. He pulled me up by my hair and said loudly, "Do you have a last wish?"

"Leave him now!" a sweet voice said. I turned to see Zhalia, who looked full of energy and determination to fight.

"That can't be fulfilled." Rassimov said, smirking at her.

"I knew you wouldn't get it straight." Saying this, she took out an amulet and held it high.

"Emerge, Nordrake!"

A blue colored dragon came out the amulet. It was magnificent, and stood behind Zhalia like his protector. Its fierce green eyes scanned the entire area, as if planning to destroy the cave.

"Suits retreat!" Rassimov screamed loudly and no sooner, they were gone.

We were the only ones in that dazzling cave.


	3. Planning the Next

**CHAPTER 2**

**PLANNING THE NEXT**

**Lok**

**2:00 pm**

**The Royale Hotel**

**Chisinau, Moldavia**

I was weak and feeling dizzy, like I'd been drunk. Sophie and Zhalia were acting as my supports. It was an uncomfortable feeling. Whenever I was injured, these two would always help me. It was kind of a good thing to do. But being a guy, I did feel embarrassed sometimes.

"How're you feeling?" Zhalia asked me in a hushed tone.

"Not so good." I mumbled.

"That's what you get for not being alert." Sophie whispered.

"You can get positive sometimes!" I said.

We soon reached my room; rather mine and Dante's. Sharing a room was never a problem with me. The problem was that I and Dante always did it whenever we would fall short of rooms. He would always assign different ones to Sophie and Zhalia. But, again, it was a wise decision. God only knows what would happen if they stay together even for a second.

Zhalia slowly laid me down on the bed, while Dante and Sophie took their places on the couch near the bed. Zhalia took a wooden chair and sat near me.

"Wasn't that the same trick you played on Defoe earlier?" Sophie asked Zhalia. She was talking about the incident when she had acquired King Basilisk in the same manner.

"Same trick with a different villain." She answered.

"It was a good thing you did." I struggled to say.

"Keep your mouth shut, kid. You're weak and, its painful hearing to you." Zhalia said, keeping her finger on my lips.

"I'm just dying to go back home!" Sophie said as she stretched her hands.

"When are we leaving, then?" I asked Dante.

"We won't." he said.

"What?" Zhalia said with a questioning look.

"We'll be staying here?" Sophie asked him.

"No, but we'll be leaving for Romania soon after Lok heals." He said.

"Romania? Why?" Sophie asked.

"A mission has been set up for us out there." He said.

"What titan?" I asked.

"The Riderless Chariot, a powerful titan."

"When did you get the information?" Zhalia asked.

"Guggenheim has sent me this Mission Card recently." He said, taking out the card from his pocket.

"So when do we leave?" Sophie asked curiously.

"Well, I was planning to leave today. But, looking at Lok's condition, I think we should wait for a day or two before we leave."

"That's means I can go for shopping?" Sophie said.

Before Dante could say anything else, she was out of the room, hopping like a little bunny.

"That girl gets crazy sometimes…." I heard Zhalia murmuring to herself.

Just then Dante got up and went towards the door.

"Where are you planning to go?" Zhalia asked him, like a wife asking her husband.

"Shopping, why?" he said in a light tone.

I could see Zhalia's mouth wide open as he left the room. Even I was as surprised as her. Dante was always one of those serious guys. He and shopping were like acronyms.

"What the hell is wrong with everyone?" Zhalia said to me.

"Maybe they just want to lighten up a bit, eh?"

"Whatever. I'm going to take a nap on the couch. Wake me up if you need anything." She said and settled herself on the couch. Even I was pulled into a deep, medicinal sleep.

By the time I woke up, dusk was approaching. The sun looked like an orange squash ball. I saw Sophie showing Dante her shopping stuffs, but it looked like he was interested in sleeping Zhalia. He was sitting on the wooden chair, constantly staring at her.

"What did you get for me?" I asked Sophie.

"Oh, I completely forgot about you!" she said and reached for one of the shopping bags. She pulled out a beautiful, multicolored bead necklace.

"Here!" she said, giving it to me.

"Necklace? You got me a necklace?" I said, astonishingly.

"It's a latest fashion. You didn't like it?"

I wanted to scream at her for this, but controlled myself.

"It's…….uh……..beautiful, really!"

"Don't worry. I'll buy you some things fit for guys." Zhalia, who was now awake, whispered in my ears

"How are you feeling now?" Dante asked me.

"My head still hurts. But I feel okay. So, what did you buy?"

"Nothing much. I just looked around with Sophie."

Suddenly, my head started hurting very badly, as if trying to explode in my skull. I groaned in deep pain and fell back to the bed, with both my hands on my head, pressing it tightly.

"Lok! You okay?" Sophie came to my aid.

"It hurts........ ahhh!"

"Drink some water!" Zhalia said, pressing the glass on my lips. It helped to some extent. The pain decreased a bit, but didn't vanish. I needed more rest, I realized.

"Maybe we should give him a separate room to rest. The quieter the room, the better it will be for him." Zhalia suggested.

"I'm ready to give up mine, if Zhalia has no problem in sharing hers with me……" Sophie said.

"I'm fine with that." Zhalia said.

I was shifted to Sophie's neat and clean room, literally. It was spotless, unlike mine. Her suitcases were placed in one corner in an orderly manner. The bed spread was wrinkle free and the blankets were folded and neatly placed. It was also darker than mine, which guaranteed a good sleep.

"Just call anyone of us if you need anything." Dante said, placing a cell phone on the bed side table.

"And, don't you dare touch my things!" Sophie warned.

"Relax! I'm too tired to do that. And, anyways, I don't sleepwalk."

Soon, they left while I drifted into a deep sleep, again.

* * *

**Yep, I know. It took me a hell lot of time to post this chapter. What was worse that I'd completed this chapter a week ago, but posted it quite late. I do apologize for that. I even had some stupid exams going on in my college and really didn't get time to even check my mailbox. Anyways, now that my exams are over, I'll get back to my old ways. I'll post the next chapter really soon.........so watch out!!!**

**P.S. : I know this chapter is bit boring, but it does have a significance. Without this, it was difficult to write the next one. Don't worry, the next chapter would be............fascinating, for all those who are Dante X Zhalia fans!!!**

**Joy!**


	4. A Night to Rememeber

**CHAPTER 3**

**A NIGHT TO REMEMBER**

**(WARNING: MATURE CONTENT)**

**Dante**

**11:30 pm**

**The Royale Hotel**

**Chisinau, Moldavia**

The cool breeze played with my russet locks as I stood near the huge window of my room. It felt fresh as I took a deep breathe to sooth myself from the day's activity. The T.V. was on, and it was showing some Moldovan program. The people were dressed up so brightly that it hurt my eyes. I was trying hard to pick up whatever was going on the show. Other than getting to know that it was a kind of a game show, I couldn't understand anything. I tried changing the channels, but there weren't any English programs, and definitely nothing Italian. I just left it on and paced around the room. Then I realized something. I didn't give the feather hat I'd bought for Zhalia. I decided to give it to her whenever I would find her alone. That moment would only come once we would go back to Venice.

It was good to be alone in the room. I never liked sharing my room with anybody else. It kind of invaded my privacy. But, it rarely happens. Normally, we don't get different rooms, and when we get, we just share to cut costs. But, now for the first time, after I got my own team, I was alone, having a 'me' time. I didn't want anybody right now. I just wanted to be alone.

But, god didn't listen to my pleas. I heard a knock at the door. Without even looking at the visitor, I just cursed him. I opened the door, much against my wish, and saw Zhalia standing in front of me, wearing a pale green knee length night dress and was covered in a translucent green lace robe.

"I hope I didn't disturb……." She looked down and blushed hard. It was then I realized that I wasn't wearing a shirt. I quickly grabbed one of the bath robes the hotel had provided and motioned her to come in.

"Sorry about that. I didn't expect you." I said to Zhalia, who still didn't stop blushing.

"I understand."

"So, what happened?"

"I…..uh……." she hesitated, as if trying to find a valid reason about her visit.

"What?"

"I came to……discus the Romania mission with you….eh…."

I went back to my earlier position near the window.

"What do you want to know?" I asked her.

"Well…….nothing much……when are we leaving?"

"When Lok gets fine."

"Don't you think Rassimov will reach there before us?"

"I don't think Rassimov even knows about this."

"Okay………and…….."

"And what?"

"That's a nice hat on the couch. I hope it's not for Metz. You see, it's too girly….."

I chuckled, not because she said those words, but because I imagined how Metz would look in that hat.

"It's for you….."

"Me?"

"I saw you admiring them way back at the market. You liked it, right?"

She stared at it for a moment before speaking, "It's beautiful. But I can't take it!"

"So you didn't like it…."

"I never said that!"

"Then what's the problem?"

"I can't take it!"

"Why?"

"Give me a reason to accept it."

"You're my team mate! It's just a gesture of thanking you! Now will you take it, or else I'll have to give this to Sophie."

"I'm taking it."

I knew mentioning Sophie always worked. Though they had become quite friendly with each other, they still had days when they behaved nearly like viragos.

"So, what else?" I asked her.

"I guess I should go back."

"Yeah, I guess. Get some sleep."

Though I wanted her to stay, it was the best option to let her go before losing myself completely. I walked close to her as she moved towards the door. It was a good feeling to stay near her, absorbing her warmness. However, as soon as we reached the door, she suddenly turned back to. During this, our lips nearly brushed each other. I was shocked to find her so near to me, rather me so near to her. I could feel her cool, peppermint breath on my face. It felt really good. I sensed her breathing becoming hard. Without knowing what I was doing, I pressed her lightly against the door.

"Dante…..I…..forgot……to take my hat." She said, in a shivering voice.

It was then I realized how close I was to her. Our nose tips were nearly touching and I was nearly in the kissing position. I moved away and she went back to the couch to get the hat. I had nearly lost myself. I had to keep my control.

It was then I did the unexpected. I grabbed her by her waist and pulled her away from the couch towards me. I pushed her against a wall and pressed my body on hers when I kissed her fiercely. I allowed myself to lose control. I realized I won't be able to keep all these feelings inside me. I wanted to show her what she meant to me.

I expected a nasty result from this unruly behavior of mine, like a slap, or in Zhalia's case, a hard kick. I was surprised when she started to caress my back and kissing back to me with same passion, as if she'd wanted me for ages. Her hands moved to my waist and she opened my robe. She placed her hands on my bare chest, which at first felt like an electric shock, but was comforting afterwards. We both were breathing hard when I pulled away from her.

"Don't go. Stay here." I whispered to her.

"How can I when I need you right now!" Saying this, her lips captured mine again. They began to move in a same rhythm. Without breaking the kiss, I picked her up and laid her down on the bed. She pulled me down with her, so now I was right on top of her. Her hands constantly caressed my chest, which felt really comforting. I slowly removed her lacy robe and threw it near the foot of the bed. I moved my fingers to her shoulders, under the nightdress straps. She moaned softly as she started to cuddle me. I was definitely losing myself, and it wasn't against my wish. I wanted her to dominate me completely. But, it seemed like she wanted me to control her passions. I stripped her off slowly, enjoying every moment of it. She didn't bother to cover herself, not even with the blanket. I grabbed her lovely lips with mine once again and she moaned louder this time. She gasped as my lips began to move away from hers towards her neck. I looked at the subtle curves of her body as my lips caressed her with soft gentle sweeps. I loved the sound of it, the reaction she had to me. To have her like this, trembling because of my touch, aroused and hungry for me, was something out of my fantasies. I wanted to hear that heavenly sound fall from her lips once more.

"Never go away from me." I said and took her on immediately.

I was wrong in my opinion. I would love to share my room and definitely my life with someone like Zhalia.

* * *

**This is just to tell you that I'll not be able to post for almost a week now since I'm going on a long holiday. I know you want to kill me right here right now..........but its difficult for me to say no to a holiday as I've just finished my exams. But I promise that I'll post the next chapter as soon as I return back.**

**Till then......enjoy!!!  
**


	5. Trouble in Dream

**CHAPTER 4**

**TROUBLE IN DREAM**

**Zhalia**

**2:00 am**

**Dante Vale's room**

**The Royale Hotel**

**Chisinau, Moldavia**

_The place was like a heaven. It had everything, a beautiful backyard garden with a pond filled with sparkling water, flowers blooming all over, and the night sky filled with millions of twinkling stars. The cool breeze made my white, loose gown to stick to my body, tracing every curve of it. I could feel the sweet smell of the flowers, which was filled in the air surrounding me._

_I got distracted by the mesmerizing beauty of the garden when I heard some footsteps behind me. I turned around and saw a huge, dark castle. On its entrance stood a man, whose face I couldn't see due to darkness. He came closer to me, but the view of his face wasn't clear. As soon as he reached me, he vanished, like some ghost. I didn't know where he went. I looked around me, trying to search for him, but failed. I ran around the garden but didn't dare to get inside that dark castle. I searched for him here and there, but couldn't trace him. It was then I felt something warm around my waist._

"_Shhh……Don't move!" a sweet masculine voice said. Maybe, he was the same man I'd been trying to find. _

"_Who……who are you?" I said, after I tried to face him but failing instantly as he was holding me tightly._

"_You know me very well."_

"_I don't……know……"_

"_Let me help you." Saying this, he started tracing his lips on my nape, which felt soft against my skin. I realized I'd heard this voice somewhere earlier._

"_Please forgive me for I'd done to you." He whispered in my ear._

"_I don't know what you are talking about……" I gasped._

"_You'll know." He said and wrapped my ear lobe with his tongue. I moaned softly._

"_You don't know how much I missed that sound of yours." He said in a throaty voice._

"_Who are you?" I asked him, once again._

"_Looks like you've forgotten me. It's not your fault." He said and pulled me closer to him. It was surprising that I wasn't struggling to get away from him. _

_I no longer felt his warm breath on my back. When I turned, he was gone from there. God only knows what he was talking about. He apologized to me for something. Why? Who was he what had he done? Why did he miss me? And, why do I've a feeling that I'd known this person earlier?_

_Then, out of nowhere, I felt his warm lips on mine. I tried to push away so as to see his face, but he held me firmly, one hand on my waist and the other clutching my hair. He kissed me with fierce passion and he licked my lower lip, begging for entrance. But I managed to push away, only to see that he was gone, again._

"_It was my mistake, I know." He said, standing at the entrance of the castle. I tried to reach him, but some kind of invisible force was pulling me away from him. I wanted to stop him, ask him all my questions._

"_No wait!" I called him._

"_Don't worry love, we'll be together soon!" he said and started to vanish again._

"_Wait!" I screamed to him._

"_No!"_

I woke, breathing hard and sweating harder. I remembered every detail of my dream. It was beautiful in the beginning, but grew mysterious by the time the end approached. I got up and sat down, only to find that Dante wasn't beside me. I was sweating a lot, even when it was cold outside. Suddenly, someone grabbed my waist, which made me flinch. I looked behind and saw a man, whose face was hidden by the shadows, just like the one in my dream. I didn't know what happened to me, but I sensed danger and screamed loudly.

"Zhalia! Zhalia! It's me!" the man said and showed himself.

"Dante! What the hell!" I screamed at him.

"Sorry, I didn't I would scare you!"

"Where were you, by the way?"

"Washroom? Why?" he said, giving me a quizzical look.

I didn't say anything. I just rested my forehead on my knees, hiding my face from him.

"Are you okay? You are sweating a lot!" he asked me.

"Just had a bad dream….." I tried to explain.

"I hope it didn't include me…." He joked.

I was completely disturbed by all this.

"Dante…..I think I should go." I said and got down from the bed.

"At least give me my shirt back to me before you go." He said pointing his finger towards me. It was then I realized that I was wearing his black shirt, which barely covered my thighs. I looked around and found my nightdress near the foot of the bed. I removed the shirt and went toward him to hand it. However, instead of taking the shirt, he grabbed my wrist pulled me down back to his bed.

"You're not going anywhere." He said and pecked my lips.

"It's quite late……"

"Shh…..we still have a lot of time."

"I really need to go…..what will Sophie think?"

"Do you actually care?"

That made me think for a while. Dante pulled me closer so that now I was sitting on his lap. He gently began to kiss my neck. His hands caressed my back and I realized that I'd forgotten to wear my nightdress after taking out his shirt.

"Stay here tonight. Who knows when we'll get such a good time together?"

The way he said it made me smile. He laid me down on the bed once again, while kissing me passionately. I gently placed my head on his chest and closed my grainy eyes.

And, this time, I dreamt about Dante and me; our future together.

But……..who was the one who actually came in my dream?

And, why I felt so unsecured all of a sudden?

* * *

**Sorry, it took me forever to upload. As you know........ I was on a holiday to the beach and returned back completely sun burnt! I was having a tough time dealing with them .......... and they still hurt *ouch!* **

**Anyways, my holidays were awesome! And, I'll be happier with you sweet (sometimes bitter) comments on this chapter. As usual, I love having mysteries in my story.**

**What do you think about the guy in dream? Have you already guessed?**

**I'll be happy if you mention your answer while writing comments!**

**Enjoy!  
**


	6. The Shock

**CHAPTER 5**

**THE SHOCK**

**Sophie**

**7:00 am**

**The Royale Hotel**

**Chisinau, Moldavia**

I took a deep breathe and got up from the couch. Well, Zhalia wasn't kind enough to share her bed with me; hence, I'd no choice but the couch. It was quite uncomfortable to sleep in it due to its small size. This was, however, taken care of by a fluffy blanket, which gave me the required comfort. Besides the fact that the couch was uncomfortable, Lok's present condition was also a reason for my sleepless night. Though, I didn't show it off, I still cared about him a lot. I also woke up thrice in the morning to go and check him. He looked peaceful….beautiful, when he was sleeping. It was hard to agree that he was the same Lok who doesn't pay any attention in his classes. But, there was one thing that worried me a lot.

Zhalia wasn't on her bed every time I woke up to check Lok. In fact, she wasn't in the room for the whole night!

I'd grown friendly towards her ever since she decided to come back for us, leaving the Organization behind. We did have some small fights, but they really didn't matter now. But last night's episode made me suspicious. There would have been two possibilities, either she was cheating us again, or she was in a big problem. I knew it was time to talk to Dante about her, again.

I didn't care to change my pink night suit. I approached the door, but before I could reach it, it swung open right on my face.

"Oh god! You scared me!" I almost screamed at Zhalia, who stood right in front of me.

"Did I? I thought you were fearless!" she mumbled.

She entered the room, gently pushing me out of her way. She looked quite exhausted and her hair was tousled. Her breathing was heavy, and her lacy robe was torn a bit at the end.

"So, were you chasing an animal all night?" I asked her, irritably.

"Something more exciting than that!" she said and smirked at me.

"Really? I mean…..something more interesting than chasing an animal?"

"You'll understand later in your life…if you're able to control yourself till then!" she answered and giggled.

It was a rarity to see her in such a good mood. I so don't want to say this…but she looked pretty when she was in a light mood.

Wait. What did she mean by 'if you're able to control yourself till then'?

"So where were you last night?" I asked her again.

"Chasing an animal!" she replied cheerfully.

"But you said you were doing something 'more exciting'!"

"Chasing an animal isn't exciting?"

I sighed. This woman had really lost her mind.

"Whatever." I mumbled.

She took out her signature clothes from her bag while humming.

Wait again. Zhalia was HUMMING?

"Wow….you look really happy - happy kind of today!"

"Because I am!"

That was amazing!

"So which animal did you chase last night?"

I felt her getting a bit tensed.

"Can't tell."

"Why not? Ain't I your team mate?"

"Yeah…but I can't tell you some things…."

"Like animal chasing?" I whispered.

She glared at me before saying, "You'll not understand."

Well, I really didn't understand anything. Why the hell she was always indirect like this? Is it so difficult to say something straight away?

I decided to go and check upon Lok. He'd been sleeping well last night, but occasionally he would mumble something which was way to hard to understand. I was relived that he didn't go through my luggage, not that I expected him to. He was a very careless guy, always in trouble at school. But, even with all these imperfections, I really felt something for him.

Wait….did I just say that loud?

"Well, you actually did!" Zhalia screamed from the bathroom. I couldn't help but blush fiercely.

I quickly opened the door and went towards my room…..which was supposed to be mine. As I entered, I saw Lok still sleeping there. His whole body was covered with the blanket. I went toward the bed; gently shaking what I supposed was his shoulder.

"Wake up sleepy head!" I whispered to him. But I saw no movements.

"Hey! It's almost 9!" I said, raising my voice a bit. But he had the same reaction. He was absolutely still.

"Lok?" I said, in a stern voice. But he didn't move an inch.

Suddenly, I panicked. Every time I tried to wake him up, he didn't move a bit. Various thoughts came to me as to what must have happened. But, only one thing struck me again and again.

Did he die last night due to the attack?

No…..no that wasn't possible. He was fine yesterday. He only complained about a bad headache.

What if he died because of blood clotting in his head?

A horror struck me. I was clueless about what to do. The first thought that came to me was to call Dante.

But, I needed to check first. I headed towards the bed again. I placed my hand on that soft, fluffy blanket which, most probably, had a lifeless Lok. I took a deep breath while praying the God at the same time to prove me wrong. I closed my eyes and pulled the blanket. I kept my eyes closed, not daring to open them, for I was afraid of the outcomes.

But, I did open my eyes.

And, what I saw left me completely dumbstruck.

* * *

**I know, I know! A lot of you probably want to murder me right now since I took so long to update. Trust me, it's not my mistake. Blame my school for coming up with a stupid idea about having an exam every month. It ended on Friday, and i updated this on Saturday, thinking a lot about my awesome blossom fans! I really don't know when I'll be posting the next chapter. So till then, you have time to think what Sophie must have seen on the bed. And believe me, the answer is going to be really unexpected!**

**Until next chapter.**

**Enjoy! ;)  
**


	7. An Uncontrollable Urge

**CHAPTER 6**

**An Uncontrollable Urge**

**Dante**

**7:15 am**

**The Royale Hotel**

**Chisinau, Moldavia**

I twisted and turned in my bed, trying to sleep again, but failing instantly. It was normal for me not to be able to sleep after waking up once. Stupid alarm clocks! I was having a hard time, but I kept my eyes closed, silently praying for the sleep to come back to me. I was really exhausted. I tried changing my position again when I felt something warm beside me, which made me smile slightly. All the memories of last night came rushing into me again.

I couldn't believe she loved me too. I couldn't even judge it in her. Yes, we did have some moments together, like during that rainy day when she'd come to my house after she was attacked by the Organization. We were so close to kissing each other. Yet, I never thought that she was chasing me as hard as I was chasing her. It was difficult to believe that a woman like Zhalia could ever fall for me. But, then again, she was Zhalia. Zhalia Moon. You can always expect surprises from her. She was Zhalia.

My Zhalia.

You are changing, Dante. My inner voice said to me.

Yeah, I was definitely changing. I was no longer the one who would only care about his missions and would only look up to his colleagues as mere team-mates. Ever since I teamed up with Sophie, Lok and Zhalia, I've discovered what friendship actually meant. Especially Zhalia; she gave me a new meaning. It wasn't that I had never fallen in love, or I was never attracted to anyone. I remember when I met Scarlet Byrne for the first time; I was really attracted to her. But, Zhalia…..she was different. There was something about her which attracted me towards her, especially after the mission at Vlad Dracul's castle, when she came back for us. She was special, but so were Lok and Sophie. At first, I thought I made a stupid decision to tutor him. But, that boy had a lot of potential he wasn't aware of. I know that one day he would be a top Seeker, just like his father. Sophie was like a younger sister for me, which I never had. Sometimes, it was difficult to control her outrage, especially if it involved Zhalia. Nevertheless, she was an essential part of the team, not forgetting the fact that she was a Casterwill, which was helpful.

I twisted and turned again and felt the same softness beside me. I opened my in hope of seeing that beautiful face again.

Unfortunately, it was nothing but a pillow.

She left me alone in the room.

Which really didn't please me.

I got up from my bed slowly and washed myself quickly before leaving the room. My feet automatically went towards Zhalia's room. And, I knew why. I knocked on the door twice, but got no reply. Probably, she was tired after our little stunt last night and was sleeping. Not wanting to disturb her, I quietly went towards Lok's room.

As soon as I reached in front of his room, I heard someone in a feminine voice screaming loudly and cursing someone. I knew what was happening and shook my head.

Lok and Sophie were fighting, as usual.

Without their knowledge, I opened the door, only to be greeted by a sight where Sophie was hitting Lok with a pillow on his back. While Sophie was being a typical virago, Lok's expression was just the opposite. He was giggling and seemed to have a lot of fun.

"What's happening here? Did I miss something?" I asked them instantly.

"You missed something really hilarious!" Lok said while struggling under Sophie.

"I'm going to rip you apart!" Sophie screamed at him.

"Relax kids! Tell me what happened." I finally said.

Sophie got down from Lok's back and sat down on the bed.

"When I entered the room to check on Lok, I saw a kind of human figure on the bed. For a moment I thought it was Lok, and he was lying very still. I got scared and thought that he had died due to his brain injury….." she stopped , and looked at Lok before continuing, "For a moment, I really got scared enough to go and check. But I did. And all I found was….." she raised the eyes again and looked angrily at him, "…a stupid pillow…"

"You really missed all the fun, Dante!" Lok said, while laughing loudly. I couldn't help but giggle.

"Punish him!" Sophie screamed and charged for him again.

"Alright Lok! Since I could see that you are really fit, I would like you to go and check the train timings for Romania." I said.

"I'll do anything to get away from this one!" he replied, pointing towards Sophie while she struck her tongue out at him.

I made my way out of the room and had a sudden urge to enter Zhalia's. I didn't want to look desperate, but it was becoming really hard to stay away from her since last night.

I knew what I wanted to do.

I had to see her.

And, I quietly made my way to her room.

* * *

**I know, I know. Late again. Can't help it, people. The exams are always dancing around me. But I promise I'll post the next chapter really soon. So, stay tuned!**


	8. The Dream Returns

**CHAPTER 7**

**The Dream Returns**

**Zhalia**

**8:00 am**

**The Royale Hotel**

**Chisinau, Moldavia**

_The flimsy material of my white gown was doing little in protecting me from the gentle but cold breeze swirling around me. I was inside the gothic mansion – or rather a castle now. The floor was covered with blood red rose petals. My bare feet felt amazing against its velvety surface. The antechamber was dark and scary. A mammoth archway led to another corridor. The arch was decorated with the statues of ferocious looking gargoyles and their red eyes were shinning brightly, making them look lively. My breathing became uneven due to the fear of being lonely in this castle. The soft and shimmering moonlight was the only comfort I had. I carefully took each step towards the next corridor._

_As I neared the end of the corridor, I saw a flicker of faint yellow light. It led to a huge hall and there were candles floating in the air. Moreover, there were endless rose petals falling from the roof. The roof was of dome shape and made up of glass, which accessed me to a sight of infinite stars in the night sky. The whole scene looked as if it had been extracted from a fairy tale._

_"Do you like it?" said a deep voice behind me._

_I turned to look behind, but saw no one. Suddenly, I felt someone grabbing me by my waist and a warm breath on the nape of my neck._

_"So beautiful….." the same voice whispered in my ears, sending shivers through my body. I just stayed there, not moving an inch. The man started to plant soft kisses on my nape. A soft moan escaped my lips as my breathing became uneven._

_"So lovely….." he whispered again. His tongue started to trace the curves of the side of my neck. I moaned loudly this time. Suddenly, he turned me towards him at a swift pace and before I could see his face, he crashed his lips on mine. At first, I didn't know what to do, so I just stood there without responding to his actions. He licked my lower lip, begging me for an entry. Unconsciously, I opened it and his tongue explored my mouth. He tasted delicious. After a moment, I broke the kiss and opened my eyes. However, there was no one in front of me. I looked around, but the entire hall was empty. I didn't know why, but I was disappointed._

_I sighed heavily before I heard his voice again._

_You've no idea how close we're. Just a few days, and you'll be mine. And this time, I'll not let you go. Never."_

_Suddenly the floor beneath me cracked open and I fell into an endless tunnel. I thought I was about to die when suddenly, my body hit the something wet and I felt myself getting pulled in by the liquid._

_As everything was becoming darker around me, I heard someone calling my name._

_"Zhalia!"_

"Zhalia!"

As soon as I heard my name, my eyes shot open. My breathing was heavy and my eyes were watering. It was then I realized that I was in the bathtub and I had opened my eyes in the soapy water, causing them to burn. I quickly sat up and took a deep breath, trying to calm myself.

"Zhalia!" Someone screamed and knocked furiously on the bathroom door. I quickly got out of the tub and wrapped a towel around my body before stepping out. I opened the door only to meet an extremely worried Dante.

"Are you okay?" he asked me. I just nodded.

"You were screaming….your eyes are red. What happened?"

I decided it would be wise not to tell him about the dream I had.

"The soap water got into my eyes. It burned a lot…." I said.

From the look on his face, I knew that he wasn't satisfied with my explanation. He probably knew I was lying. Fortunately, he decided to ignore it.

"So, why are you here?" I asked him as I walked towards the wardrobe.

I could see he was struggling to answer. A soft smile was planted on my lips as I remembered the scene between us last night. Oh, how difficult it was getting to resist him!

"Uh….we're leaving. I'm here to help you pack your luggage." He finally answered.

"Okay." I said and grabbed my clothes and finished dressing in the bathroom. The memories of my dream were still fresh in my mind. It started to happen last night, the day I arrived in Moldavia. I didn't know why, but I had a feeling that I knew the person from my dream. I had heard his voice before, but I just couldn't remember.

I had a feeling that something terrible was about to happen.

"Zhalia, are you done?" Dante asked.

"Coming!" I said and opened the door. Dante had packed my bags and we were ready to leave. I thanked him and to open the front door. However, before I could reach the knob, Dante pulled me towards him. He held me firmly by my waist, but it felt good. Really good.

Without any warning, he locked his lips with mine. Our lips moved in a perfect rhythm. I felt myself losing all the control I had on me.

"Ti amo…" he whispered in my ears. However, before I could ask him the meaning, he captured my lips again. I wanted this to go on for eternity, but good things last only for a while.

It was so true.

A knock on the front door made us stop abruptly. I saw a hint of disappointment in his eyes as he went to open the door.

It was Lok.

"Pack up people," he said, "We have a train at 10 a.m!"

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Believe me, I really did while writing it!**

**Enjoy!**


	9. Waiting for the Ride

**CHAPTER 8**

**Waiting for the Ride**

**Sophie**

**10:15 am**

**The Railway Station**

**Chisinau, Moldavia**

Probably, the wound on his head has not healed properly and has made his eyesight weak.

Or, he has lost a part of his brain.

Or, he still hasn't woken up completely.

Or…I don't know.

However, he just did something that hasn't been committed by anyone for past three thousand years.

Or more.

I was doubtful earlier, but this 'little' incident has confirmed the fact that….

He's a boy with abnormal defects.

"Look Sophie, I'm sorry! It's just a petty mistake!" Lok whined.

"Petty mistake? You call this a petty mistake! How can you ever read 10 a.m. as 10 p.m.? You're freaking sixteen, Lok! Freaking sixteen!" I screamed at him.

"Now we'll have to wait for twelve hours….." Zhalia added in a bored tone.

"Exactly! Do you know how much is twelve hours?" I asked Lok.

"Eh….seventy two minutes?" he answered.

"How about four thousand three hundred twenty seconds?" Zhalia added.

I sighed. This wasn't helping at all.

"I don't know what's wrong with you people. You all look so peaceful! Looks like it's only me and Dante who are worried about this situation." I said.

"Actually, you're wrong." Zhalia said.

I followed her gaze and found Dante in front of a local bookstore, keenly looking through different magazines. I decided to accompany him instead of the blond moron standing beside me.

"What're you reading?" I asked Dante as soon as I reached him.

He didn't answer.

"Uh…Dante? I asked you something….."

No answer.

"I would appreciate if you just answer me."

This time he looked up smirking and said

"I was just messing up with you."

This situation has really made everyone crazy.

I just hope I don't end up losing my patience too.

I went back to the bench, which was now occupied by Lok. Both Zhalia and he were chatting and giggling.

"What's so amusing?" I asked them.

"Nothing, we were just sharing jokes." Zhalia answered.

I looked at her disbelievingly. She was sharing a joke with that blondie culprit!

"How could you? Don't you remember what he did?"

"I'm just trying to pass my time out here, and Lok here is doing a great job, unless you have a better idea of entertainment."

"How about we play 'Punish the culprit'? All we have to do is to pour hot chocolate on this culprit's head!" I said, pointing towards Lok.

"You know what? I have a name too." Lok grumbled at me.

Coincidently, Dante was coming towards us with a cup of hot chocolate in his hand. Probably, he heard what I had said because he looked at me and then at his cup, then back to me before retracing his steps back to wherever he was. I was interrupted by someone's giggle.

"What's so funny?" I asked Lok.

"Nothing. Just that you scared the poor guy away."

"You're a complete moron."

"Happy realization!" Zhalia said.

**4 Hours Later**

"Oh God! Have mercy on you most beautiful child! I promise I'll worship you every day. Heck! I'll worship you every second! Just let this moment pass out as quickly as possible. Oh God! Give me strength…..."

"What rubbish are you murmuring, Sophie?" Zhalia almost screamed at me.

"I'm trying to pass my time here! Keep quiet!"

Zhalia murmured something, which sounded like 'crazy girl'. I chose to ignore it.

I was doing my best to pass my time, but really wasn't working. All of us but me had found their 'boredom buster'. Zhalia borrowed Lok's PS3 while he was busy feasting on a coffee shop. That earned him a few trips to the washroom. During these four hours, I counted the number of times he made a beeline for the toilet. Right now, he was heading towards it.

That would be his thirty-fifth trip.

Dante was standing in front of a huge TV screen which was playing some kind of program; probably a news channel. He had his translator in his hand that was pointed towards the speaker of the TV. From the look on his face, the news wasn't something to be happy about. After few moments, he placed his translator back into his trench coat pocket and headed towards Zhaila, who was leaning against a pole near to the giant TV. She was still engrossed into the game and didn't notice him coming. Dante said something to her, to which she nodded. Then he went towards somewhere. At the same time, I saw Lok coming out of the washroom.

Oh, joy!

He came and sat next to me while turned my face away from him, showing him that I was still mad at him. I felt him tap on my shoulder, but I ignored it. He tapped again, but I paid no attention.

"Sophie….."

"Go away!"

There was complete silence and I knew he was gone, I took a deep breath and turned back to my original position, only to find him sitting right there and staring at me. I looked straight at his piercing blue eyes as they stared at me. Something about those eyes always gave me butterflies in my stomach. It never failed to leave me breathless. They were hypnotizing and difficult to ignore. They always reminded me of a mighty but calm ocean. I felt myself losing into them.

"Sophie…."

The way he said my name made my heart flutter, which was weird considering the fact that I was cursing about his stupidity a few seconds ago. However, this boy never failed to surprise me. He would be your regular high school boy with extra stupidity added to his personality at one moment but the next moment, he would care for you as if you're the most precious person in the entire world.

"Sophie…"

My heart started to beat wildly when he leaned towards me. 'Okay, Sophie, it won't be that bad!' I kept telling myself. He was close now and I felt his mint-flavored breath tickling my nose. He smelled yummy...

"Sophie, please don't move..." he whispered.

I closed my eyes and waited for that heavenly moment when I would feel the softness of his lips against mine. My breathing became heavier I felt something brushing against my nose. I automatically leaned forward a\so as to make it easy for him.

'Just do it already!' I wanted to scream at him, but there was no way I was going to spoil this beautiful moment.

I stayed like that for couple of minutes, but felt nothing. I gradually opened my, and what I saw made me frown.

He was back to his original position and was intensely staring at a caterpillar crawling on his palm.

"This dude was crawling on your hair. Thank me, I removed it." He said.

Can I murder him please?

"I'm still waiting." He said

'I'll have so much of fun when I'll burn your body in a pot of boiling oil.' I thought.

"Thank you." I said.

"Now that wasn't so hard!" he said.

I just looked away from him, constantly fighting the urge to rip of his head and drink his blood.

Okay, that was disgusting.

I saw Dante coming back to us, with Zhalia behind him. That saved me from the awkward moment.

"Alright guys," he started to speak, "our train schedule has been changed and it's now at three. The platform has also changed so we'll have to leave this one."

"How come they changed the timings?" I asked.

"Well, according to the weather reports, there's a violent thunderstorm heading here, and they changed the schedule to avoid it."

I saw Zhalia behind Dante, lost in a deep thought.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Lok said.

While the guys led the way, me and Zhalia followed them. I noticed that she was still in her own thoughts, as if trying to solve something.

"What's up?" I asked her.

"Huh?"

"You're thinking something."

"Yeah, it's weird…."

"What is?"

"This is the first time I've ever heard someone changing schedules because of thunderstorm…"

"They are just tackling a potential disaster."

"Thunderstorm can hardly be considered as a disaster."

She did have a point there, but I could've cared less. I was just eager to get inside the train.

When we reached the platform, the train was already there. Naturally, I was the first one to climb in, followed by Zhalia and Lok. We found our cabin and placed our luggage in a corner. Then Lok and I rushed to capture the upper berths, our favorite. Dante was the last one to come in. He locked the compartment door and took his place. I took out my new book 'Wintergirls' and started reading it when I was interrupted by Lok.

"How old are you?"

"Uh…sixteen." I answered.

"Not you, Sophie. I was asking Sophia!"

"Who's Sophia?"

"This," he said, pointing towards the caterpillar on his palm, "is Sophia. I named it after you since it was your hair where I found her."

"I can't believe you still have that stupid creature!" I said and retuned back to my book.

I felt my eyelids heavy and was ready to take a nap when I heard a loud 'bang' sound and then a scream.

"Zhalia!" I heard Dante's voice.

I quickly looked down, and found Zhalia on the floor looking pained and Dante holding her. I got down and Lok did the same.

"What happened?" Dante asked her.

"It….hurts…ahhhh!"

"What hurts, Zhalia?"

"My….back…..killing me!"

Dante turned towards me and said, "Quick, get the painkillers from my bag and a glass of water!"

I did what he asked me to do. He gave her the medicine and she gulped it. After few moments, she relaxed. Dante picked her up and put her on the bed. He covered her up with a blanket and wiped her forehead free of sweat.

"What just happened?" Lok asked.

"I don't know. I'll ask her when she wakes up." He said.

I went back to my berth and was conquered by sleep. However, before I was about to sleep, I heard Zhalia murmuring…..

"Something's wrong….." she had said.


	10. His Warning

_Dedicated to Ceelia-17_

**CHAPTER 9**

**HIS WARNING**

**Zhalia**

**Midnight,**

**Aboard the train to Romania.**

_I could feel tears running down my cheeks. That was the only warm feeling I had in this entire room. Strangely, it had no doors and windows. I was imprisoned inside a huge cube. Everywhere I looked, I found nothing but darkness. It was impossible to see and I could only feel what probably were the walls. Being blinded by darkness, I couldn't help but panic. There was a strange feeling in my gut, and a voice was screaming in my ears to find an escape route. But I was too cold to move, and too numb to think. The white dress didn't provide me any warmth desperately needed. Each and every atom of my body was nearly frozen._

_Even if I didn't die of cold, I would surely take my way towards the heaven due to the unbearable pain in my back._

_For past many hours, I had been trying to get up on my feet. But the pain seemed to have paralyzed me. Forget about getting up, I couldn't even move any part of my body without adding fuel to this deadly fire on my back._

_All I wanted was to get out of here, somehow._

"_Anybody here?"_

_No answer._

"_Please, help me!"_

_No answer._

"_Hello?"_

_No answer._

_Finally, after numerous trials, I gave up. I was lying on my stomach, which wasn't the best position to lie. However, I could hardly do anything about it. Lying on my back was impossible. All I knew that I was to stay here…alone…without any hope to survive._

"_Sophie…Lok…Dante…"_

_My eyelids began to feel heavy._

"_Dante…where are you?"_

_I smelt something burning, but I didn't care._

"_Dante…help me someone!"_

"_Who is Dante?" a deep voice roared._

_I abruptly opened my eyes and looked around, only to find the same sinister environment. It was then I saw a man, who had fiery orange halo around his entire self, making his body look as if it was on fire. It was impossible to see his face…again…as his body was nothing but a black mass. As he progressed towards me, I felt the warmth, which was radiating off him towards me, on my numb skin. There was a feeling of relief instantly._

"_Please, help me!" _

"_That's not the answerer to my question." He said sternly._

_A sob escape my lips while I started to shake uncontrollably. My breathing became uneven and my eyesight blurred. _

_It was then I realized that I was crying._

"_Shhh! Please don't cry, love!"_

_By the time I realized what he had said, he was right next to me. He started rubbing my back softly while murmuring sweet things in my ear. Like some magi, the pain faded. I felt as if a great burden had been lifted off me._

"_Can you sit now?"_

_I nodded._

_At once, he gathered me in his arms and settled me on his lap. I didn't complain; I had already lost myself in the warmth he provided me._

"_The pain will be back, but I'll make sure it's not that bad." he said_

_That was enough to send shudders through my spine._

"_Wh - what do you mean?"_

"_You'll know soon." _

_I was about to ask more, but he kept his forefinger on my lips._

"_You didn't tell me who Dante is?"_

"_Uh…a friend…"_

_I was an amazing liar._

"_I hope…I hope he's only a friend to you."_

_No he isn't. He's my…_

"_Yes, he is." I said, "Bu why are you so interested?"_

"_Just to make sure you aren't taken. It would have been a bit of trouble, then."_

_I shot him a questioning look._

_Then, he took my hand in his and said, "We aren't far away from each other."_

_I was beyond confused now._

"_Mine, mine…all mine…" he hummed while playing with the hem of my dress._

_I had a feeling that I knew this humming very well…someone used to sing it to me before…_

"_W – who are you?"_

_There was sadness in his voice when he asked, "Don't you remember me?"_

_Before I could answer, he spoke up again, "Well, I didn't expect you to, after what I did to you. Believe me, when I'll tell you the reason behind it, you won't think of me as a jerk."_

_I chose to remain quiet. After few moments, he said, "I have to go now."_

_He abruptly, he got up, causing me to fall from his lap on the cold floor. The room, which was once dark, started to brighten up. For a moment, I was able to see his features, but the intensity of light increased so much that he began to glow like Sun._

"_10 days, Zhalia! Remember, 10 days…" his voice boomed in the entire chamber._

_I wanted to ask him what he meant, but I saw him fading, and he vanished within few seconds._

_And, this time, I was blinded by light._

It took me a minute to realize that I was no longer dreaming. My eyes opened to the view of the base of Lok's berth. I wasn't sweating or huffing and puffing, like usual. I was just confused.

_10 days…_

It's just a nightmare, nothing else, I tried to tell myself. I knew it was impossible to go back to sleep, so I took my journal and wrote about the dream, like I'd been doing for past two days. I searched my memory for the man's identity, but failed, again. All I could predict was that this man dangerous…extremely dangerous.

_10 days…_

Deciding not to wake up anyone else, I wrote a note on my stick pad, tore the page and pasted it on the window. I tip-toed to the compartment door and opened it. A sudden wave of cool breeze rushed in. I heard Sophie's teeth clattering as she pulled her blankets closer to her.

Some fool had left the window of the passage open.

I closed the window and checked the latch before going towards the last bogie. The passageway was deadly cold and I cursed silently for not bringing my coat along. It was then I realized that each and every window in the passage of every bogie I had crossed was open.

_May God curse the person who did this. _I thought.

I somehow managed to reach the end and opened the door to the loggia. I remembered the last time I was on a loggia was when I was on the way to Transylvania…to slay Dante. He had come up to me while I was thinking about Klaus and his sinful plans to destroy him and thus demolishing the Foundation. Even today, I feel the guilt of even thinking about it. Klaus had done nothing but used me for his experiments. It was difficult to believe that there was a time when I had looked up to him as my father.

My life was certainly a mess and I'm still trying to put all the pieces together.

"Zhalia?"

I got startled with someone suddenly calling my name. I looked behind and saw the person I expected the least to come to me.

"Lok, what are you doing here?"

"You stole my question." He said while a slight yawn escaped his lips.

"I wasn't sleepy." I said

"And I followed you."

"Why?"

"To tell you that next time you wake up, don't be too noisy."

"I tried my best."

He smiled a bit and said, "Actually, it wasn't you who woke me up. Peachy got into my shirt and tickled me."

I gave him a confused look.

"Oh, you didn't meet him! I didn't have time to show you….you know with that back pain….. By the way, how's your back?"

"I'm fine now."

"Really? I'm surprised!"

"And, why is that so?"

"You see, when you screamed and screamed due to that pain, we all were so panicked…and Dante asked Sophie to give you a painkiller…but she messed up and gave you a sleeping pill. Man, Dante got so pissed when he saw what folly she committed…..and she calls me a fool. But he was in control, as usual and waited for you to wake up."

"Well, the pill worked."

"That's why I'm surprised!"

I was surprised too.

He gave a big yawn and said, "I think we should go in. It's kinda cold here. Plus, Dante and Sophie might get worried if they find our beds empty in the middle of the night."

"I think I'll stay here for a while." I said while giving him a smile.

"Whatever floats you boat. But get in soon or you'll catch cold."

Saying this, he went in while I stayed where I was and looked up to gaze at the stars. Suddenly, I felt someone's presence behind me. I thought that Lok was still standing behind me and turned to shoo him away. I was surprised at what I saw.

There were two kids standing in front of me….and they were unconditionally cute.

"What are you doing here? Are you lost?" I asked them.

The little boy looked at me through his big green eyes and said, "Dosh thish shmell like wotermelon or coocoombur?"

I raised my eyebrow.

"Pete says that it smells like coocoombur…" the little girl said.

"It ish!"

"No!"

"Yea!"

"No!"

"Kids!" I finally screamed, unable to bear their shrilly voices.

They both looked at me.

"First of all, do your parents know you are here? And, you shouldn't be awake at this time!"

"We'll go," they both said, "if you'd tell ush if thish smells like coocoombur or wotermelon."

I grabbed the candy from the boy's hand.

"What a nuisance…" I muttered as I smelt it.

"This smells like…."

Chloroform.

Oh no.

"What the hell…." I struggled to speak as my eyes began to close.

The two kids giggled and gave a high-five to each other.

It was then I saw a man coming out of shadows and handed the each kid a candy.

"Good job." He told them.

"Thank you, mishter…what was your name?"

It was then I saw his face. A horror struck me.

"Jonathan Wilson." He said as I finally lost my concsicousness.

* * *

**Special thanks to Ceelia-17 for an amazing idea for this chapter. Please review and tell me your opinion. Also, if you want to know how Jonathan looks like, see my profile picture.**


	11. Second Attempt

**CHAPTER 10**

**SECOND ATTEMPT**

**Dante**

**7:00 a.m.**

**Aboard on the train to Romania.**

"Has anyone seen Zhalia?" I asked Lok and Sophie.

Sleeping seemed to be impossible last night. I woke up after every fifteen minutes to check how she was doing. Lok had sold his entire world to his sleep. Well, he was tired and he stil hadn't recovered from his injury completely. So, I wasn't surprised when he didn't stir a bit. Sophie, to my surprise, had stayed beside Zhalia for the whole night. Well, almost, since I forced her to go to sleep. I felt awful for screaming on her like that. Never had I behaved like that with anyone. It wasn't a pity mistake, though. Giving a right medicine is essential. Zhalia, however, looked peaceful when I'd woken up to attend to her. The sleeping pills probably made her forget about her pain. At least she slept. I needed her to be in good health for her next mission.

"I met her at the logia at cock-crow. She must be in the washroom now." Lok answered.

"How was she?"

"She looked pretty well to me. We just talked and I told her about Sophie's mistake."

"Oh no, you didn't!" Sophie screamed and hit him with the book she was reading.

It was a crazy scene to witness. Sophie was trying to pound on Lok with all her might while I pulled her away from him. I noticed that she'd been losing her patience a lot these days, especially when she was with him. I might talk to her later about it. Right now I'd to stop these kids from eradicating each other.

"Stop it you both!" I screamed. But my words fell on deaf ears, for they were still exchanging blows.

Actually, it was only Sophie who was beating him. Poor Lok was unsuccessfully trying to dodge her every move.

The train stopped abruptly, making Sophie fall on me and Lok on her. I was right below the two, and in a dire condition. My head had socked the window, Sophie's leg tangled with mine and Lok's, some of her hair were entering my mouth and Lok had his hand on my forehead, probably for support.

"Great. Now can you get up? I might turn into an omelet." I managed to speak somehow.

"Sorry." They both mumbled as they got up.

"I would like to speak to you later." I told Sophie and she gave me a small nod.

"By the way, where are we?" Lok said as he looked out.

Upon looking outside, I realized we had stopped at a station. I took out my phone immediately.

"Ploiesti." I said after some time.

They looked at me for a while before Sophie asked, "You know Romanian?" as she directed towards a sign board.

"I've got a GPS navigation system in my phone." I simply answered.

"I'm going out for a while. Sophia's not feeling well." Lok said.

I gave him a confused look since I didn't know who he was talking about. Sophie noticed the expression on my face and explained, "He's talking about his pet caterpillar."

"_Pet_ caterpillar?"

"Lok's specialty." She said and winked at me.

'NEXT STOP: BUCHAREST!' The speaker in the train announced.

"Don't go out, you might miss the train." Sophie said to Lok, who promptly went back to his seat.

It has been nearly thirty minutes now, and there was still no sign of Zhalia. I just hoped that she was alright. In fact, she should have gone alone like that when she knew that she wasn't well. Moreover, I had to tell her…..those words. I knew how badly I had messed it up last time when we were alone in her room. In immense nervousness, I blurted out 'those words' out in Italian. It was a good thing that Lok distracted us. Maybe I wasn't ready for that. Not that I didn't love her; I wasn't ready to tell her. I didn't want to startle her, which I was sure she would, considering the fact that love was an alien concept to her. I think she had never fallen in love before for she had a reputation of being a lone wolf. You really can't trust anyone when you work alone. I guess working with a team changed me. I can at least boast about having friends and future lover, if everything goes on smoothly. If, however, she refuses me, I think I'll be able to manage the heartbreak. I'd already experienced it once during my teen years. I remembered that early spring season when I was seventeen and met her for the first time. It was Metz who introduced her to me. She was his distant cousin's daughter and her name was Constance. At first, it was just a casual date and I had no plans to settle down in a relationship at such a young age. But something happened, and I started to like her more and more each day. We had soon confessed our feelings for each other and that began our serious relation. It felt as if we were made for each other and were meant to be together forever. I was sure about. Who knew that 'forever' would only last ten months? I caught her cheating with another guy at a party, and even though she apologized to me many times and told that she loved me and no one else, I dumped her. It did take time to heal and forget her, but I succeeded. I was young at that time and that love was immature. We both were juvenile and it was our first love. As the time passed by, I eventually forgave her, although I never saw her again after that incident. I dated many women after that, even Scarlet, although I found her a little too glamorous for me. Zhalia, on other hand, was perfect for me. She was simple, yet there was something about her which attracted me towards her. Probably, it was her 'no-nonsense' attitude. Or maybe, it was because she remained loyal to us even when she worked for Klaus. Maybe, it was because there was a feeling inside me which wanted to protect and fulfill her every need she didn't get before.

It was definitely love.

The thought of it brought a smile on my lips.

"Dante to Earth! Dante to Earth!" Sophie screamed in my ear.

"What? What happened?" I asked.

"We've been trying to ask you that what time we will reach Bucharest." Lok answered.

I looked at my phone again and said, "About an hour or so."

He simply nodded and went back to caressing his pet caterpillar.

That boy is so weird. I, however, don't mind his peculiarity until he does his job well.

I told them that I was going out for a while. But they didn't pay heed to me for they were still fighting over the previous issue. I sighed and opened the door, only to collide with someone behind me.

"Hey, watch out!" the person said.

"I'm sorry…Zhalia?"

There she was standing in front of me as she stared at me wide eyed. She looked as if she hadn't slept for thousands of years for her eyes had bags around them and her hair was boisterous. That really bothered me.

"Are you okay?" I asked immediately. Maybe she was still struggling with the ache.

She just nodded.

"You must get a nap. You're a mess!" I advised her.

"I'm not sleepy."

"It doesn't look that way."

She chose to ignore me and instead asked, "When are we reaching Bucharest?"

"In an hour."

Her eyes grew wider, as if she was panicked.

"Are you sure you okay?"

She probably realized what expression she was giving and tried to relax.

"Zhalia, since you're not sleepy, can I talk to you?"

"We're talking."

I shook my head gently and said, "No, I mean, alone."

She had a confused look on her face, but agreed. I took her hand and led her towards logia. Her grip on my hand was deadly, as if she was scared of something. She was probably very tired. I should have let her sleep.

We soon reached our place and I realized that she was shivering. Well, it was explainable as the weather was pretty cold and she was hardly covered with anything warm. So, I removed my coat and wrapped it around. Thankfully, she didn't protest.

It felt like eternity, but I didn't want to make a fool of myself in front of her. I had prepared what to say, but it seemed like I've forgotten almost every word.

_Alright, Dante. You can do this. _I tried to convince myself.

So I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and opened my mouth.

"Zhalia, I –"

"Dante, can we talk later? I'm not feeling well."

I abruptly shut my mouth.

She continued, "I'm sorry. You were right. I need to sleep for a while. We have a mission and I need to be fit for that."

I remained quiet.

"Let's go now. It's cold out here." She said and went inside, leaving me alone.

And I though this would be as easy as one, two, three.

Well, at least she had my coat on.

But there was a feeling that told me that she was hiding something from me. I don't know what was it, but I knew it bothered her a lot. She wasn't in best of her health ever since we had left Moldavia. She was facing a problem; I was sure about it. Maybe I'll talk to her about it later, after I'd talked to Sophie.

I sighed. There was so much of talking to do.

* * *

**I know it has been ages since I last uploaded and I'm really sorry for that. I had been on a college road trip (I'm definitely not talking about the move, lol) and then there was cricket fever every where I went, so yeah, I was pretty indulged in the game too. And, no, I didn't forget that I had a story to complete. So, enjoy until next upload!**


	12. The Gothic Guesthouse

**CHAPTER 11**

**THE GOTHIC GUESTHOUSE**

**Lok**

**8:05 a.m.**

**Bucharest,**

**Romania.**

_Dear Mom, _

_First of all, I'm really sorry that I couldn't make it back home this time too. We had to go on another important mission after we had finished up in Moldavia. I'm in Bucharest right now and very near to the Transylvanian Alps. You know it's famous for Vlad Dracul and quirky stories related to him. __But there is no Dracula. I know you must be thinking that I should know this since I had been there before, but I still haven't lost my hope__…I'm just blabbering stuffs. Don't pay attention to it._

_Things are fine and cold out here. __You must be jumping with joy now because you told me to take my fleece coat with me__. I should have taken my coat with me. It's freezing out here. Don't worry about me; I've borrowed one from Dante, who has replicas of his trademark coat. __Do you know that Sylvester Stallone got twenty - five T-shirts as a pay for his first movie?__ Sorry, I'm blabbering again. _

_Anyways, I've to go now. Sophie is troubling Sophia. Sounds funny? Sophia is my pet caterpillar. You'll meet her soon. She's a piece of beauty. Give my love to Cathy, __and it's okay if you don't. She's a real pain. __ Take care._

_I love you._

_Yours,_

_Lok_

_P.S.: Can you send that herbal medicine of yours to me? Zhalia's got a back-ache problem. It might help her. I've enclosed my address in the envelope. And keep Cathy away from my room!_

I quickly placed the letter in the envelope, sealed it, stuck two stamps on it and gave it to the clerk at the post office situated at the railway station.

Bucharest was beautiful. It somewhat resembled an Irish countryside, especially my hometown. There were few high buildings here and there, but it still had a country touch to it. There weren't many people around, and that was the best part. The station looked isolated, but again, it was only eight in the morning. Perhaps people liked to get up late. If that was the situation, I would love to settle down here. Then, I'll get enough time to sleep.

We saw a man with a typical Romanian look running towards us, with a huge grin on his face. After what felt like eternity, he reached us; huffing and puffing.

"Ser….Ser Dante Vale?" he asked in a thick Romanian accent.

"That's me." Dante answered.

He pushed me aside with a great force and shook hands with Dante. I already hated him.

"_Alo_, ser! I'm Ciprian Yotova! Welcome to Bucharest!"

"Hello, Ciprian. Metz told me about you. This is Zhalia Moon, Lok Lambert and Sophie Casterwill." Dante introduced us to him. I still didn't know who he was.

He pushed me aside again, took Sophie's hand and placed a kiss on it.

"It's rare to see beauties like you." He said to her, to which she blushed furiously and giggled like a school-girl.

I hated him. A lot.

* * *

"So, Miss Sophie, where are you from?" Ciprian asked her, and she giggled again.

"You can call me only Sophie. I'm from Britain."

"Ah! Beautiful place! You know I've seen Buckingham palace too! It's such a beauty!"

And, she giggled again.

"So what? Even I've seen Buckingham palace! Nothing new about it." I protested.

They both looked at me as if I was a moron.

"No, ser, you're wrong. It's an architecture marvel!" he said.

"You don't even know how to appreciate art." Sophie mumbled under her breath.

I was sure my face was red with anger.

They kept on talking and flirting with each other. I told him numerous times to pay attention to his driving, but his answer was same every time: 'Don't worry, ser. I know Romania like the back of my hand. You know you can trust me." And, that's what I didn't. I, especially, didn't trust him with Sophie. He seemed to be constantly hitting on her. What was worse that she was inviting him to flirt with her. What will be next? Will they go on a date just twenty-four hours after they had met? Yotova looked way too old for Sophie, so there was no chance that Dante would allow them. But, what if he does? Or what if Sophie doesn't even bother to ask him or defies him? After all, Dante's like her guardian but he's _actually not_. He wouldn't have any power to stop her from dating that idiot. Maybe Zhalia can. But they're always engaged in a cat-fight and I don't think she would stop her because I told her about Sophie's mistake. So, there's no way to stop her from dating him. Then they'll kiss, get married and I'll be left alone forever.

I'd officially gone crazy.

What the hell was I thinking?

However, she did tell me that she liked me during that mission in Atlantis.

Maybe, it was just a silly crush she had on me.

Why the hell am I thinking about it again?

"Oooh! We're here!" Ciprian announced.

It looked like some seventeenth century gothic mansion and not a normal guesthouse. There were gargoyles posted on the either side of the mammoth gate. Their red eyes seemed to be staring right through my soul. There were grey clouds over the top of the so-called guesthouse. There were some ferocious looking dogs that guarded the entrance. They growled at us, as if they wanted to tear us apart.

"I hope you keep these dogs lashed. They don't seem to like any visitors." I said to Yotova.

"Don't worry. They won't attack you unless Master orders. And, by the way, they are wolfs."

For a moment, I stopped breathing. Nobody kept wolfs as their guards!

"Master?" Sophie asked. I could sense fear in her voice.

"The owner of this place. He's a very charming person and would love your company." He said, and I felt as if he had looked at Zhalia, who surprisingly remained quiet during the entire trip.

"So, when will we meet your Master?" Dante asked.

"He's not here right now. You see, he's a very reputed personality in our locality. So, he's a busy man. He'll be joining you tonight for a dinner." He answered.

Soon he led us inside, which was way scarier than the façade of the house. There was a certain 'devilish' vibe to it. The walls were covered with age old paintings and there was an archway that was decorated with another set of gargoyles. The ceiling was a marvelous piece. It was transparent and you could see the soft daylight pouring in from it. I bet it looked even more beautiful at night, with thousands of twinkling stars to look at. There few rose petals lying on the floor. On asking about it, Yotova told me that they leftovers from a huge party that took place last night, although I had a feeling that he was lying about it. Nevertheless, I ignored it.

"If you'd follow me, you'll reach your rooms." He said and motioned us to follow him.

We entered the archway, which led to another hall type room. But there were thousands of rooms one above the other, surrounding this circular room. The entire set-up reminded me of a coliseum, minus the gladiators. It looked as if we were not in the twenty-first century. There seemed to be no trace of electricity since the time we entered the guesthouse. Even now, the path was lined with scented candles burning softly. Soon we reached our respective rooms. Mine was between Sophie's and Dante's. The room was huge and, again, gothic in nature. Its blood red walls and dark mahogany furniture made it look like a scene from the Bela Lugosi's movie, which reminded me that I still had a plan to take a trip to Vlad Dracul's castle, if we finish off with our mission quickly. I still had the copy of Bram Stoker's book and planned to follow Jonathan Harker's footsteps from here to Transylvania. I might even write a journal like him. Who knows I might really bump into mighty Dracula someday? But that's possible only after the mission.

I should seriously consider taking an appointment with a psychiatrist.

I decided to take a quick shower, if there was one at all. The building was definitely ancient, so there were chances that all I would have is a small bath-tub, or worse, a bucket and a mug.

* * *

"How did you like the place, Sophie?" Yotova asked her.

This man was definitely getting on my nerves.

"It's beautiful! I didn't know that the Foundation had such a unique residence too."

Even I didn't believe it. It's not like thousands of seekers from foundation come here every day. Romania is not even known to be a rich source of titans. However, some of the most powerful ones have been found here. But that still didn't explain the vacancy of thousands of rooms.

Something didn't feel right.

"Yes, even I was shocked when I was first posted here. Since not many seekers come here, the Foundation granted us permission to run it as a public residence during the tourist season."

That did explain the 'vacant rooms' mystery.

"That's a good idea. It gives you a good source of income." Dante said.

I stole a look at Zhalia, who seemed to be completely engrossed into the food served to her. It was good that she was taking interest in it. She hardly ate anything during the entire trip and she looked visibly weak too, probably from the lack of sleep. She remained silent since the time we had arrived here, and it somehow scared me.

Suddenly, the phone behind Zhalia started to ring loudly, which startled her. Yotova got up to take the call.

"This place is creepy." I whispered to Sophie.

"As much as I want to disagree with you, I can't. But Ciprian is charming." She answered.

I hated him.

"Umm, Dante? Can't we get an accommodation any where else?" Zhalia finally said. I was happy that even she was against it.

"What's wrong with this?" Dante asked.

"Actually…..well….never mind."

Dante looked confused, but chose to remain quiet.

Then I spotted Yotova coming towards us, with a huge grin pasted on his ugly face.

"Master will join you in two minutes."

I should have known that when he said two minutes, it actually meant an hour. We had already finished with our splendorous dinner, which also included my favorite spinach salad. Barring the fact that Sophie sang 'I'm Popeye the sailor man' while I engulfed large amount of salad, which was clearly directed towards me, I enjoyed the dinner. I was busy with my fudge cake when I heard someone clearing his throat.

Upon looking at the entrance, I saw a relatively young man standing. His hair cut was just like mine, but were jet black. His eyes were blue, just like mine, but were pale and icy. He was probably as old as Dante, but his sharp and carefully shaped features made him look much younger than he actually was. His attire was black: black trousers, black shirt, black blazer and black shoes, which were unusually shiny. I bet he had a striking personality, just like Dante.

"I hope I didn't keep waiting you for too long." He said smoothly.

When nobody said a word, he continued, "There was a lot of office work to complete. I expected it to get over in few minutes, but I was wrong."

"We understand." Dante said.

"I can see you've finished with your dinner." He said.

"Actually–" Sophie was about to speak.

"Oh, it's alright! I've already had my dinner!" he said.

There was a silence for a while before he broke it.

"I completely forgot to introduce myself! I'm Jonathan–"

"Harker!"

Everyone looked at me as I clasped my mouth with my hand. Sophie sent daggers through her eyes at me, while Dante looked visibly embarrassed. Zhalia was…doing nothing.

"Wilson. Jonathan Wilson."

I smiled apologetically and said, "Sorry. I've been reading Dracula. I just got too indulged in the character."

He laughed softly.

"I guess I'll talk to you all tomorrow. It's getting late anyways." He said, to which we all agreed.

"Good night." Dante said. We all did too, except Zhalia.

"Good night, Mr. Vale."

Then he looked at Zhalia in the most adorable way and said, "You look pretty tired. I hope the journey wasn't that rough."

Zhalia didn't answer but she nodded. I thought I heard her mutter 'You shouldn't be the one asking' under her breath, but I'd been imagining stuffs anyways.

"I'll see you tomorrow. Take care." He said and spared one last look at Zhalia before going away.

Maybe he started to like her.

"This way, ser." Yotova said and led us back to our rooms.


	13. The Reunion

**CHAPTER 12**

**THE REUNION**

**Zhalia**

**11: 40 p.m.**

**Jonathan Wilson's manor,**

**Bucharest,**

**Romania.**

Sleep wasn't coming easily to me. Even though my eyes were grainy, I didn't feel like closing them. Every time I did, his face would appear. Every time I tried to sleep, I dreamt about the time when I sat in front of the church, weeping out uncontrollably as the harsh rain drops tried to cause dents on my skin. Like a stupid and hormonal teenager I was, I had hoped that he would come back soon. I waited for three years, and never once did I hear from him. No letters, no emails, and no idea about his whereabouts…nothing. It took me great deal of time to overcome all this. I had finally accepted it as some 'teenage heartbreak' episode. I repeatedly told myself, almost everyday, that he had just played some disgusting joke on me and that I should move on. Leaving the Organization was probably the best thing I did to get away from my nightmares: Klaus and him. I was determined to start my life afresh. And, I succeeded, almost. I had a great team to work with and amazing friends. Hell, I even made friends with Sophie, which really seemed impossible at first. However, it all had to go down the pit. But I shouldn't be surprised. My life was already ruined.

* * *

"_You okay?" _

_I realized it was the same voice from my dream. I opened my eyes, but my vision was blurry._

"_Water…" I whispered._

_I heard someone moving and sound of utensils striking against each other. Soon, I felt him trying to hand the glass to me, which I gladly accepted. He helped me to sit down straight and gulped the liquid down my throat. I felt a wave of relief wash over me instantly and my vision cleared. There wasn't anyone in front of me, as it always happened in my dream. I was in a dark room, with the only light coming from a nearly burnt candle. From whatever I could see in that dim light, the room had distinct design of medieval era. The curtains seemed to be heavy and velvety. There was a chandelier on the roof too. There was a huge painting on the wall which literally screamed 'evil'. It showed thousands of people, with blood oozing out of their bodies, getting overshadowed by a creature with horrific features. But what was actually noticeable was its ruby-like eyes – shiny but bloody. A shiver went through my spine. _

"_Its cold today." The man said and wrapped a shawl around me. I turned around to look at his face._

_It was then I truly felt like I was in hell._

"_You?" I whispered, even though I wanted to shout._

"_Yes, me."_

_There was a sudden recollection of the memories from my past life. Anger ignited in me._

"_What are you doing here?"_

"_I live here. It's my place." He said, with his trademark smirk pasted on his face. _

"_Let me reframe it. What am I doing here?"_

"_I got you here." He said as his smirk widened._

"_Well, then, in other words, you've kidnapped me, right?"_

"_No, I just got you here. It's not called kidnapping." He said and smirked…again._

_I sighed heavily. He was still as irritating as he was in the past._

"_What do you want from me?" I asked._

"_Nothing."_

"_Then let me go!"_

_He didn't reply._

_I started to get when I felt something heavy and cold on my wrist and ankle. Upon looking at them, I saw I they were captured with manacles and my ankles in fetter. This just added fuel to the fire of my anger. _

"_What is the meaning of all this?" I asked annoyingly._

_He came near me and whispered in my ears, "It means you're not going away from me…never ever."_

_I moved my shackles again, hoping that I'd be able to get out of here._

"_It's not going to help, love." He said._

"_Don't call me that!" _

_He was taken aback by my protest and his once bright eyes became sad. _

"_I can explain why I left you…"_

"_You know what?" I cut him off, "I doesn't matter now. It was my mistake. I was naïve at that age and didn't know what I was about to do. I'm so, so sorry. Now, can you leave me? My friends might be getting worried about me."_

_He looked angry and I knew I had made a huge blunder. Jonathan was cool but if someone would get on his nerves then the best option was to run away and never come back. Even then, there were only ten percent chances that he would survive his wrath. Most of them had to pay a really heavy price. Fortunately, Jonathan getting angry was a rare thing. He was a jolly person back then. But now…even I didn't know._

_And by the looks he was giving, I wasn't sure if I would survive…_

"_Will you just listen to me?" he asked me calmly._

_I didn't reply back._

_He shook his head and went towards the window to open it. The sun was just about to rise and I could see the orange patch of its early rays in the deep blue sky. There were few starts visible in the sky but they were disappearing too. I could hear the chirruping of thousands of birds. Somehow, this calmed me a little bit._

"_You hate me, don't you?" he asked me._

"_Hate would be an understatement…" I murmured, not wanting him to hear. But what happened was just the opposite of it._

_He looked fiery, as if he would rip me apart in no time. Then I saw his brilliant green eyes changed its colour to red. I didn't know how he did, but it surely succeeded in scaring hell out of me!_

"_I didn't mean…" I was about to say, but he gestured me to stop. With an incredible speed he came towards me. He grabbed a handful of my hair and pulled them so hard that it made me scream._

"_Do you think I enjoyed leaving you on our wedding day?" he shouted at me._

_I couldn't answer him. It seemed as if my voice was caught in my throat._

"_Do you think I loved hurting you? Do you think I was partying out in Las Vegas while you cried all day? Do you think I'm so cold hearted that I'd back off after proposing you? Do you…" his voice cracked. I saw some unshed tears in his eyes as it turned back to green._

_He released me from his painful grip and sat far away from me. He mumbled something I couldn't understand and rubbed his face before looking at me again._

"_Just let me go." I whispered to him._

_He got up abruptly. For a moment he thought he would kill me right then and there. But he just removed my shackles._

"_I'll leave you at the train." He said and lifted me in a bridal style._

"_Wait, how are we going back?"_

_He looked at me with those sad eyes and said, "Are you so eager to get away from me?"_

_I wanted to say yes, but being wise, I kept my mouth shut and lowered my eyes._

"_Doesn't matter. We'll meet again, anyways."_

"_What do you mean?"_

_However, instead of answering me, he jumped out of the window. I thought he had gone crazy to do that, since the ground was far from the window. We were probably on the last floor of the manor. Maybe, he thought it was the fastest route to get to the main road and hire a taxi…_

_But the next moment, I realized that we were flying. Yes, flying, just like a bird! I looked up to him and saw him looking at me too, with a small smile on his face._

"_Enjoying?" he asked._

_I looked down towards the earth and said, "Barely."_

_He chuckled. "I won't let you go."_

_Somehow, I felt that what he said had a hidden meaning to it._

_I heard the whistle of a train and looked down. Bubbles of happiness started to burst in me when I realized it was mine. I pointed it towards him, to which he nodded. Soon we were back on the logia._

_I was about to go in, but turned back._

"_Who were those two kids you sent?" I asked._

"_I don't know." He said and shrugged, "I just lured them with a chocolate and asked them to help me play a prank on you. I guess it worked out pretty well."_

_I decided never to trust kids ever again._

"_And you said we'll meet again…"_

"_You'll know soon." he said._

_I was about to protest but before that he pulled me towards him and locked his lips with mine. I was shocked and confused at the same, not because this was the first time I had kissed him, but because I still felt delightful, like it used to be before. Did it mean I still loved him?_

_No way…_

* * *

True to his words, we met again at the same place; his abode. I was accommodated into the same room, unfortunately. There were no shackles. Even the ferocious paintings were removed from the wall. In fact, the chamber looked as if it had been renovated. The blood red curtains were replaced by violet ones, which was my favorite colour. The window sill was decorated with fresh flowers with soft scent, just the way I liked. The set up was perfect, except that I was scared…really scared deep inside me. My friends were here, too. Dante was here. How on earth would I ever explain all this?

This situation was worse than I'd thought.

I took a deep breath and got up from the bed. My luggage was still unpacked. I wanted it to remain like that so I'd have ample time to run away, if I ever had to. I, however, knew that it would be impossible. _He_ wouldn't let me.

I opened the cupboard and stuffed my clothes in a haphazard manner as I was not at all in mood to do anything. I just wanted to sit and think of an idea to get out of here with my team. For a moment, I thought the mission that was given to us was completely bogus. It's possible, considering how much _he _wanted me to be with him. But he used to work for the Organization. Then why would he accommodate anyone from the Foundation?

Maybe it's not at all about me.

Maybe he's behind Dante and is using me as bait…because he probably knows my feelings for him.

There was definitely no other explanation than this. Why would he come back for me out of nowhere after so many years? He must have got to know that I'd started to work for the Foundation and made a plan to use me. That somehow disappointed me. It clearly meant that he had never loved me. But at the same time, I knew that now I had some idea about is intentions.

I should talk to Dante about this. I had to explain him.

I tried to open my door quietly, but it creaked a bit. I held my breath and walked towards Dante's room. The passage was so cold that I felt I was walking inside a refrigerator. Even then, I somehow managed to reach the doorsteps of his room.

As I was about to open the door, I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Sneaking is a bad habit, Zee."

I knew my luck went down the drain that moment.

I turned around and saw _him_ smirking, as usual.

"What are you doing here?" I whispered to him, not wanting to wake up Dante.

"I should be the one asking you this."

I sighed. There was no way I could win him in a verbal fight. Physical? Maybe yes.

"What do you want?" I asked him.

"Again, I should be the one asking you this."

I shook my head slightly. Was he always that annoying?

I started to walk back to my room when he stopped me.

"I wonder if we could talk for a while…" he said.

"I'm sleepy. Not now."

"Sleepy enough to sneak into your team mate's room?"

I just rolled my eyes at him.

"Please, only for a while. I promise I'll let you sleep afterwards."

"You're not the one who should be deciding." I said angrily.

"Please…"

I knew he would just continue to bother me if I didn't do as per his wish. Even though he had grown up so much, there was still a child in him who would come out when he really wanted something or when he was happy enough to let everyone think that he'd gone manic. That made me remember the dance he performed for me on my sixteenth birthday. I unconsciously giggled a bit.

"What's the joke?" he asked while he looked at me amusedly.

"Nothing, just remembered something from my past."

"I hope it was about me."

I could see he was desperate for my answer, but I decided to keep mum.

He led me towards a terrace. As he slid opened the door, cool breeze gushed over me. The night was beautiful. There was full moon in the sky, which was partially hiding behind the clouds. It was difficult to see stars near the moon, but farther, they were clearly visible. The trees surrounding the manor's compound swayed gently along the wind. It was like I was in heaven…until he spoke.

"Beautiful. Isn't it?"

I nodded.

"It's always like this here. When I first came, I was so mesmerized with its beauty. But now, I just want to go back where I came from."

"What do you mean?" I asked him.

"I want to the same job I used to do…we used to do."

"Oh."

"I was happy there. I had friends, people who appreciated my work and, of course, you."

"Why did you leave then?"

He took a deep breath and said, "That is what I want to tell you. I should not, but I want to. It might just freak you out."

"I've dealt with many freaky things before." I said and laughed half heartedly.

He looked at me with a big but genuine smile on his face. There was something he wanted to say, but he looked confused, as if deciding whether he should say it or not.

"I missed you, Zee." He said and hugged me.

I couldn't help but hug him too. It had been a long time.

"I missed you too, Jo."

I knew this was off beam. However, it didn't matter. That moment it felt like I was sixteen and he was eighteen again. I felt like becoming that careless and independent teenager who was madly in love with this boy, who is now a grown up man.

I was happy, really happy.

And I knew this feeling for him was…wrong.

* * *

**So, that was pretty long (well, according to me). I knew I took a lot of time to upload this. I was just busy partying day and night (I'm not kidding). I just got admission in my dream college and my parents seemed to be more excited than me (-.-). Even after so many celebrations, I was able to save some cookies for all of you! COOKIE TREAT FOR EVERYONE!**

**Sorry, I'm just blabbering rubbish. Anyways, next update will be soon...and very soon! Until then, enjoy this chapter!**

**P.S. : If anyone wants Jonathan's point of view, please let me know. Also, you can check out my profile picture to get an idea of how he would look like :)**


	14. This was why he left

**CHAPTER 13**

**THIS WAS WHY HE LEFT**

**Zhalia**

**12 a.m.**

**Jonathan Wilson's manor,**

**Bucharest,**

**Romania.**

"I don't know where to start from…." He said, while scratching his head.

"How about the beginning?" I smirked at him.

He looked away from me towards and fixed his gaze at the trees surrounding the mansion. I could see the difficulty and nervousness he was facing at that moment. I was almost tempted to comfort him; telling him that it was alright not to share it with me and that I would wait for it. But I need to know the truth. And, I had waited so long for this moment.

"Well," he began to speak, "the day we were about to get married, I received a letter from Rassimov, saying that I was to arrive in Romania for an important mission."

"You left me for a stupid mission…?"

"No! Please don't speak till I finish."

When I didn't say anything, he continued, "I refused obviously. We both had a very heated conversation. For some reason, he was very particular about sending me on this mission. For a moment I thought that he was into you and probably wanted to stop this wedding…"

The very thought of Rassimov liking me sent shudders through my spine.

"Anyway, like I said, he was certain about the fact that he wanted me to be in the mission because of my abilities, that was what he had said. That was when he offered me this mansion and a lot of cash in exchange."

"So, you left me for…."

But he kept a finger on my mouth and shook his head, telling me to not say a word.

"To tell you the truth," he continued, "I was tempted to take up the offer since I thought that having our own place and lots of money will help us get away from the organization, living our own life without anything to worry about.

When he saw my reluctance to go, he made an offer, saying that he would inform you that the marriage would take place after a delay of twenty four hours. He said it won't take more than that to complete the mission. I agreed to it."

I couldn't say anything.

"You have to understand, Zee. I know it is not a good excuse for the pain I've caused you, but I was doing it to make our future secure. We couldn't stick with the organization after getting married. I always wanted us have a normal life, like that of a teenager's. We both know that the organization wouldn't have let us go at any cost. Our marriage would have been a good excuse to get away from those people. But I needed to make us self-satisfied. I wanted us to have a normal life."

"You know Rassimov never informed me about it."

"I got to know it much later, Zee. They withheld me."

"You never even tried to contact me. I waited so long for you."

"Rassimov made me cut off all the links with the outside world."

"What was this mission that he was so particular about?"

He hesitated for a while before speaking, "I can't tell you now, but I'll do it when the time is right."

I remained silent.

"I was doing this for us, my love." He whispered to me.

"I see you have the mansion. And you look pretty wealthy too." I said.

"Yes, Zee. And, now we can have it all. We can have the wedding we'd been waiting for. We can have our life back."

I turned away from him and stared at the sky. It was clear. There was no sign of any thunderstorm, as told by the weather forecaster.

"You were the reason behind the fact that the train arrived early, right?"

He smiled.

"Over the years, I've learned the art of manipulation."

"That's how you played with my dreams."

He stepped closer to me and whispered in my ears, "You've grown up to be a beautiful woman, you know that?"

Finally I looked at him and felt a wave of anger pass through me. But I maintained my cold façade.

"You know what? This marriage wouldn't work out now."

That seemed to catch his attention.

"I've changed, Jonathan. I'm no more that sixteen year old Zhalia who was heads over in love with you. I have been through a lot of things in these six years. I've betrayed people and I've made new friends. I appreciate the fact that you thought about me so much, but you have to understand that I had no news of your whereabouts or anything related to you. I know it's not your mistake, but I had to get on with my life. I have a new life and new friends who supported me no matter what happened, even when I had betrayed them. I'm sorry Jonathan, but I'm no longer you little Zee."

He stared at me, probably trying to digest the words I had thrown at him.

We just continued to gaze at each other.

"It's because of him, isn't it?" he finally said after few moments.

"What?"

"It's all because that leader of your team…..what's his name….?"

"Leave Dante out of this." I growled at him

"Dante, huh? So what are your feelings for him? Is he the reason why you are denying me?"

"You've lost your mind."

Suddenly he pushed me into a wall behind me, trapping me between the wall and him.

"Now you listen to me carefully, woman. You are mine….you always were and you'll always be. If I see that man touching you in any way I don't like, he'll get hurt. And, who knows my ability to hurt anyone better than you, love?"

I pushed him back with my full force before trapping him in the same way as he had done to me.

"No, you listen to me carefully," I said, "If you come anywhere near Dante, I'll kill you. If anything happens to Lok and Sophie, I'll kill you. And, if you try to do anything funny with me, I'll kill you."

With that I released him and made my way towards my bed chamber.

* * *

**You guys probably want to kill me now *puts her hands up in defense*. No, I didn't get bored of this story or anything like that. Ididn't even run out of ideas or anything like that. You see, after joining the college, I got so busy that I couldn't bother about anything around me except work. Our college is worse than a school. They think of us as machines, not humans. Anyway, I'll be uploading this story on a regular basis since I've got an idea of another story. But I won't start it until I finish off this one, which will take some time. But, I assure you that you'll enjoy each and every moment of this story from now on. Lot's of Dante - Zhalia moments for all my fans. Lok and Sophie? Well, this is story belongs to Zhalia. However, I'll do it for my fans who are die hard fans of Lok and Sophie.**

**Remember to review this chapter. Nothing is more valuable than your comment :)**


	15. Confession

**CHAPTER 14**

**CONFESSION**

**Dante**

**9:08 a.m.**

**Jonathan Wilson's manor,**

**Bucharest,**

**Romania.**

"Good morning, everyone!"

"Good morning, Dante!" my team greeted me back.

Sophie handed me a newspaper as I sat down for my breakfast, which according to Mr Wilson, was best to have in the garden. I couldn't disagree to such an excellent idea. The breakfast consisted of eggs and bacons with orange juice. I could see everyone gobbling up the food in a caveman's way. Well, it wasn't every day that we get to have good food, so I said nothing about their rowdy behaviour.

"So, what's the plan?" Lok asked me as soon as we were finished.

I opened up my holotome and commanded it show me the map of Romania. As a green dot flashed on it, I started to explain them.

"This is the point where we are supposed to go. This entire region, including the one where we are staying, comes under Wallachia province."

"Wait, you said this entire thing is Wallachia. Then why is it showing a division here?"

This time, Sophie took over.

"Wallachia province is divided into two: the greater Wallachia, commonly known as Muntenia and the lesser Wallachia, known as Oltenia."

I smiled at her.

"So, this is the point where the titan is hidden?" Lok asked.

"I doubt holotome is showing us the exact location. Seekers barely come to this area since there aren't many titans that are found here. But this is the closest to the point where the titan is located."

"Ser," It was Ciprian Yotova, "the vehicle has been prepared for you journey."

I nodded towards him and made my way towards the exit with my team.

"Are you in need of a chauffeur, ser?" he asked me.

"Thank you for your offer, Mr Yotova. You've already done enough for us. We'd take it on our own from here."

"Very well, ser."

As my team settled down in the car, I saw Jonathan Wilson approaching us.

"Mr Vale!" He said in great excitement, but for some reason I found it fake.

"Mr Wilson! I would like to thank you for accommodating at your place." I said, hoping to break down the thick layer of ice between us.

"It was my good fortune that I am able to host Foundation's best seeking team. May I know by what time you'll return back?"

"Well, if nothing goes wrong, then we'll be back by evening. But it would be safe to say that we won't be back before mid-night."

"Oh, that's fine. I'll tell the cook to keep your dinner ready so that you can have an early retirement."

"That's very kind of you, Mr Wilson."

After our 'awkward' conversation, I made my way towards the car. I noticed Zhalia glaring at Wilson. Not only that, Wilson too was staring at her. Had something happened between them? I may ask Zhalia later.

**11: 15 a.m.**

**Somewhere in Wallachia**

We reached spot in two hours. And, since we had to do some searching thing here and there, I decided to make a group of two.

"Alright, Lok and Sophie, you both will go left while I and Zhalia will go this way. If you find anything worthy, don't hesitate to contact us."

I turned back, only to find Zhalia already on the way.

"You left me behind." I said as I caught up with her.

"Well, knowing that you'll always catch me up, I had nothing to worry about." She said and gave her one of the rare smile, which were no longer rare for me.

After walking for about half an hour or so and finding nothing but pastures, I decided to take a short break. I sat down on a rock, while Zhalia supported herself on it.

"Why do I feel that you've been ignoring me since that night?" suddenly, I asked her.

She slowly turned towards me and said, "I'm not, Dante…"

I got up slowly and stood in front of her.

"After that night, when I came into your room that morning, I felt as if you were not comfortable in my presence. Also, when you disappeared for a time being in the train and when I talked about it, you just chose to ignore me. I might be wrong in my interpretation, but I can see how uncomfortable you are ever since I told you that we have to come to Romania. What's going on?"

She remained silent.

I sighed.

"Look, I just want to tell you that ever since that night, I haven't stopped thinking about you. I…I've started to notice…you more than just a team mate…more than just a friend. Zhalia, I don't know how to say this, but I've fallen for you…"

I saw her eyes widen up, as if they were trying to pop out of her skull.

"No…I'm not saying that you have to feel the same for me. I can understand…but I just wanted you to know that I have deep feelings for you…that I care about you…a lot."

Before she could say anything, my phone rang. Cursing it silently, I picked it up.

"Hey Dante!" Lok said from the other end, "I think we've found what we were looking for."

"That's nice. Tell me your location."

"I'll do that. But we have a bit of problem here."

"And that is?"

"Rassimov's here too."

* * *

**So, here's the next chapter. Liked it? Loved it? Neither? Well, write it all in your review. Also, I've made a cove page for the story (which might take up few moments to get uploaded). The guy in the picture suits the personality of Jonathan; dark and mysterious. And, as I promised, uploads now will be on a regular basis. So no more waiting for ya'll!**


	16. A spy amongst us

**CHAPTER 15**

**A SPY AMONGST US**

**Lok**

**12:36 p.m.**

**Somewhere in Wallachia**

**Romania**

"What is he doing here?" Zhalia asked as soon as she and Dante reached the spot.

"I don't know. Dante, didn't you say that Rassimov had no idea about this mission?"

Dante looked as if he was thinking really hard. Sophie was on hiding behind another huge rock not too far away from where we were. Since we were on a meadowland, there were no trees and hence, there were no chances for a surprise attack on him. I guess he probably knows that we're following him.

"I really don't understand how he got here…" Dante mumbled.

"What do we do now?" I asked him.

We all looked towards Rassimov. For some reason, I felt that Rassimov had changed since the last time we'd seen him. Not only his attire, which consisted of some wacko looking cape, clearly reminding me of Dracula. There was this aura around him which literally screamed 'evil'. Well, it was kind of obvious since he worked for the organization, but I had this feeling that this had nothing to do with the organization. There were two other, a woman and a man, who looked similar to him.

"Wind and Shauna…" Zhalia whispered, as if she read my mind.

"I remember them attacking us once. Who are they exactly?" I asked.

"Rassimov's siblings." Dante answered.

No wonder they looked as uncanny as their brother.

"I guess we've no other choice but to attack them from front." I said.

Dante nodded.

He motioned us to stay behind him as he took the lead towards the 'Creepy Three'.

* * *

"Long time, no see, buddy!" Dante said as we stood behind Rassimov.

"I knew you would come here, Vale." He said in a casual way, "But I was expecting a surprise attack from a sneaky rat like you."

"Now, now, there's no need for name calling, right?"

"I have no time to waste over you."

"The feeling's mutual, really."

Rassimov turned towards his minions…siblings and said, "Take care of them."

With that Wind and Shauna stepped forward.

"Let's teach that little blondie and his friends some lesson." Shauna said.

I know I shouldn't think about things like that right now, but it hurt my feelings when she called me a 'little blondie'.

I was expecting her too attack me first, but then she turned towards Sophie and casted a spell.

I should have known.

"Armourbrand!" Zhalia screamed as she went to protect Sophie.

As Shauna evoked Lillith the Queen and Wind conjured Shakrit, I did the same with Baselaird and Dante with Metagolem.

The fight was intense since the strength of both the sides was almost equal. Zhalia evoked King Basilisk so as to aid us whereas Sophie took time to evoke her titan and relied on her spells to fight. I found this fight quite odd, since there weren't any suits to aid the 'Creepy Three'. Hell, there was no one to help them. Not that I was complaining about it. And then there was Wind. I'd never heard him speak. Well, you can't when your mouth has been strapped. He probably used to talk a lot, which didn't go well with his siblings and they covered his mouth. If that was the case then Wind got away with nothing because considering how evil Rassimov was, he could have either stitched or stapled his mouth. The idea itself gave me goose bumps.

"Honourguard!"

I found Sophie right in front of me as she started to scream at me, "What the hell? Pay attention to the fight, Lok!"

I gave her a sheepish smile.

The fight went on for a long time and it felt as if we weren't getting anywhere. I know I shouldn't be saying this, but those two were amazing fighters, especially Wind. He was a 'silent but dangerous' type. Shauna, on other hand was all over Sophie. That girl had a certain obsession with her. Zhalia was trying hard to protect Sophie and me at the same time. Even though they were two, they were enough for the three of us.

Wait a minute. Three?

Where was Dante?

For a moment, I forgot about Wind attacking me and I looked around, trying to search for him. It looked as if Zhalia too realised what was happening. She gave me a nod, telling me that I pay attention to the battle while she would look around for him. But as she was about to go, a deep voice with which we all were familiar with spoke up.

"Evoke, Riderless Chariot!"

There was Dante, standing in all his glory with Rassimov lying on his feet, and the majestic titan glowing behind him. That was all it took for the Creepy Three to vanish away from the field.

* * *

"That was just great!" Sophie exclaimed.

"Yeah, it was so cool…the way you defeated him! For a moment we thought we'd lost you!" I said.

"You guys won't get rid of me so easily." Dante teased.

Zhalia just smiled.

"But" Sophie said, "I still don't get it. This mission was highly confidential, so how did Rassimov find out about it?"

Dante was again in his thinking mode. What Sophie said was true. There was no way Rassimov could have known about this mission, unless…

"Unless there was someone who knew about it and informed him well in advance." I said.

"A spy…" Sophie said.

Dante suddenly raised his head and said, "There was only one person who knew about this mission other than us."

"And who is that?" I asked.

"Jonathan Wilson."

* * *

**Jonathan truly is a bad guy! Or is it some kind of misunderstanding? Tell me your opinions! Also, tell me how is the book cover that I've made for the story? **

**That's all for now until the next chapter, which is coming sooner than you think!**


	17. Marked

**CHAPTER 16**

**MARKED**

**Zhalia**

**4:46 p.m.**

**Jonathan Wilson's Manor,**

**Bucharest,**

**Romania.**

Anger.

Confusion.

Sadness.

These were the emotions that were ruling me at the moment.

Anger at what Jonathan had done to us.

Confusion on how we didn't get a slightest clue about him being a spy.

Sadness at the fact that he once again betrayed me.

I was lying on my bed, facing the window as I looked towards the floating clouds without any interest. My mind kept shifting to the day he confessed to me. If he was so eager to get me back, why did he push into such a trap?

Just then I heard a knock on my door. This really wasn't a right time for someone to come and talk to me.

When I didn't answer, the door opened and in came Dante.

"Hey" he whispered.

When I didn't answer back he sighed and went on to sit on a chair near the fireplace. My eyes moved away from the window to him. His sharp features were illuminated by the light coming out of the fireplace, which in some way made him look godly. My mind wandered back to the incident that happened in the afternoon. His confession had caught me off-guard. No, not because of the situation we were in. It was just hard to believe that Dante Vale, Foundation's top seeker, fell for a mere Zhalia Moon.

Yeah, it was just too hard to believe.

"Why are you here?" I asked.

He turned towards me.

"What's your relationship with that Wilson guy?"

I smiled a little. This was one thing I like about Dante. He wouldn't waste his time beating around the bush.

"What do you mean?" I tried acting strange.

He abruptly got up from the chair and sat right in front of me on the bed, which in turn forced me to straighten up too.

"You know what I mean." He said, his face merely inches away from mine.

When I didn't answer, he took a deep breath and said, "I've seen you both look at each other as if you'd had a history. By the way he stares at you; it seems he still adores you."

He shifted a bit before continuing, "You know, if you tell me about him, then we'll able to figure out why he betrayed us."

Oh, so this was about work. He wasn't jealous.

Well, that was kind of disappointing.

"What do you want to know?"

"Everything"

I knew this day would come sooner or later. There was nothing that you could hide successfully from Dante Vale.

So I told him; everything from A to Z. Not missing even tiniest of details.

He listened to everything, not even interrupting once.

"No wonder he glared at me often…" He murmured.

I cracked a smile.

"So what do we do now?" I asked him.

He stood up and said, "I'll contact Guggenheim. He needs to know about this. The Organization has gone too far this time."

With that he left the room.

Without listening to my answer to his confession.

Well then, it's time to go back to sleep.

**9:45 p.m.**

**Jonathan Wilson's Manor,**

**Bucharest,**

**Romania.**

I was standing at the same place where I had my confrontation with Jonathan a night before. Even though it was dark, I could make out that the sky was filled with heavy clouds. Also, the wind was not as gentle as it was few days ago, although it was kind of refreshing. The temperature dropped to some extent, making it cold enough for me to wear a wind cheater. The fragrance of wet soil was also evident.

A clear sign of an upcoming storm.

Sound of footsteps behind me snapped me out of my thoughts.

"You're late." I said, without looking back at the person.

"Sorry. Some work came up." He said as he rushed to my side.

I looked at him and said, "Was this important work related to something about spying on us?"

He stiffened.

"So you're Rassimov's dog." I smirked. That made him angry.

"I'm Rassimov's nothing!" he almost shouted at me.

"You're actions speak otherwise."

"It had to be done."

I scoffed.

"Don't tell me he was blackmailing you or something. That excuse is just too old."

He closed his momentarily and took a deep breath.

"It had to be done."

"Right" I mocked him.

"It is for our wellbeing."

"Since when did 'our wellbeing' required me being dead?"

He scratched the back of his head; a habit of him I used to adore six years ago. Now it just disgusts me.

"You were not meant to be a part of it."

"So you were planning to kill my team mates?"

"No, just Dante Vale."

A wave of anger passed through me.

"I warned you not to go near him…"

"And I kept my promise." He cut me off, "I didn't attack him. I told Rassimov to." He smirked, as if he had done something which was worth winning a Nobel Prize.

Idiot.

"Directly or indirectly, you'll stay away from him as well as my entire team! In fact, my warning doesn't even matter now since you've already done the damage. You'll pay for it!"

"Enough!" he yelled.

He grabbed me by my arms and dragged me inside. Then he pushed me inside his chambers before locking the door.

"Wh-what do you think you're doing?"

He didn't say anything before he dragged me towards the dresser and made me stand in front of a large mirror. Then he started to pull up my shirt.

"Let me go!" I screamed but he didn't seem to budge.

Oh god, this is so not happening!

I tried to kick him, but the position in which he held me made it impossible.

"Stay still!" he yelled.

"Screw you!"

Surprisingly, he did nothing but lifted the back of my shirt.

"It's there…" he murmured.

"What the…"

He flipped me so that now I was facing him.

"Look at you back."

I did what he said, and that made me gasp me in horror.

There was black rose which was surrounded by thick thorns. Underneath it, there were some kind of symbols which looked ancient.

"What in the world is this?"

"My mark."

"What mark?"

"I've imprinted upon you."

* * *

**Jonathan sure is full of secrets! So, what do you think of this chapter? Don't forget to post your reviews. I always appreciate my readers commenting on my stories! :-)**


	18. The Betrayal

**CHAPTER 17**

**The Betrayal**

**Lok**

**7:10 a.m.**

**Jonathan Wilson's Manor,**

**Bucharest,**

**Romania.**

Scrambled eggs, bacon, sandwiches and bowl of fruits adorned the table in front of me. I picked a plump red apple from the bowl and took a large juicy bite. I looked at Dante, who was mostly interested in the newspaper and his cup of coffee. Sophie was admiring the garden we were sitting as that tool Ciprian Yotova served her tea. When he walked towards me, I straightened up, but my eyes remained narrow.

"This is for you, Ser."

I looked down at the glass to find milk in it.

"Really?" I asked

"Milk is supposed to be good for _kids_." He said, with a smirk on his stupid face.

I looked at Sophie having tea.

"She's a lady." He said, as if he knew that I was about to ask why he didn't give Sophie the same thing.

"Are you calling me a kid then?"

"You _are_ a kid."

I took a deep breath. I can't let him blow my top.

_2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14…_

"Oh! And here's Bournvita, in case you don't like the taste of the milk."

That did it.

"You basta–"

"Mr Yotova, could you please get me some coffee. My drink is too bland." Dante interrupted.

"Right away, Ser." He replied and went inside the mansion.

"What were you thinking?" Dante said.

"He was insulting me."

"You know we have to stay neutral. We're living in a trap. One wrong movement and we can have some serious trouble."

Suddenly the ground appeared to be really interesting.

"Do you understand?"

I nodded.

He went back to reading newspaper.

"You okay?" a gentle voice asked me.

"Why do you care?"

Sophie's face hardened and she turned away from me.

_Oh Sophia, how much I miss you!_

That's right. I lost my beloved caterpillar few days back. I'd left her on the table in my room and when I came back, she was no longer there. I missed her because she was my only true friend: the one who'd listen to me without uttering a single word herself.

I'm so melodramatic.

I got up and went inside the mansion to cool myself down. I don't even know what got me so worked up. Zhalia insults me almost on daily basis through her sarcastic comments, but it doesn't get on my nerves. Why now, then?

Speaking of Zhalia, I wondered where she was. I had not seen her in the morn. Probably, she slept in. I decided to wake her up and started walking towards her room.

I knocked on the door, but she didn't answer. I tried again but ended up with the same result. So I decided to open the door.

The scene I saw made me blush so hard that I was sure my face was tomato-red.

Zhalia stood near the window of her room without a shirt on. Her back was turned towards me. I was about to utter a quick apology when I noticed something on her back. It looked like a black rose which was surrounded by thick thorns. Something else was there underneath it which I couldn't figure out.

When did Zhalia get a tattoo?

I was so engrossed in trying to figure it out that I didn't notice Zhalia was now looking at me. When I did, my face turned to a deeper shade of red.

"I was just–"

She said nothing.

"I came to wake…you…"

She said nothing.

"I didn't mean to interrupt…"

She said nothing.

She was just staring at me.

It was creepy.

"So I'll just wait in the garden. You should hurry up; the food will get cold."

She continued to stare.

"Ok bye."

I rushed out her room towards the garden. Zhalia's behaviour was super-scary. I decided to talk to Dante about it.

Whom am I kidding? Dante would probably brush it out. Maybe Zhalia knew that I would feel awkward if she'd behave like that. She probably would be laughing about it right now.

Yeah, it was one of her tricks to play with my mind.

But why wasn't I convinced with my reasons? Why did I feel that something was wrong?

**2:53 p.m.**

**The Bran Castle**

**Brașov County, Transylvania,**

**Romania.**

"Not again!" Sophie almost cried.

Yes, we were back to the Bran Castle. We'd been here two years ago when we were trying to uncover the amulets and treasures left the Count in the castle. It was still the same – dusty. I wonder where the Castle keepers are, since nobody interrupted our visit, just like last time.

Maybe this was the reason why Zhalia was acting funny, since this place reminded her of her betrayal towards us.

"So, why are we here, Dante?" I asked.

Dante opened the holotome and started explaining the mission.

"We aren't here to capture any titan since Antediluvian is already in our custody. I had been in contact with the people living near the castle since the time we first arrived here. Yesterday, after we discovered Wilson's scheme, I decided to ask around if anybody knew anything about him. It was fate that I met with an old woman I'd acquainted with in our previous trip. She told me something really strange.

"She told me that a few years back, she saw some a small group of people wearing black robes going inside the house. They chanted as they walked. I guess it would be better if you listen to her yourself."

The holotome then played a video.

_I saw these men with their heads covered walking inside the castle. I really didn't bother to check on them, thinking that they must be another group of fools coming from abroad coming for 'vampire hunting'. Some people are just so naïve. Anyway, everyone had their face covered except two people who were leading the mob. Since it was really dark, I couldn't see their faces, but I could make out one of them. He had light hair and looked very young. The other man, who was beside him, was literally dragging the boy towards the castle. The young was unwilling to enter, but the other one whispered something in his ear, which straightened him and they entered the castle._

_I don't know why but I had a bad feeling about it. I decided to tell the police about what I had seen, because I had a strong feeling that these people were intruders. You know how valuable Vlad Tepes' treasures are. On my request, the police searched the insides of the castle but found no one. Also, the treasures remained untouched._

_Two days later, I was caught in a storm while coming back from the church. I was weird since the weather was reported to be clear that day. There was no mention of any upcoming storm or else I wouldn't have stepped out of the house. Since the storm was really bad, I decided to take shelter by the rocks where I could see the castle clearly. I closed my eyes to calm myself down when I heard a deafening thunder. Soon, a lightning struck the top of the castle, which again I found weird since thunder always comes after lightning. The lightning looked so powerful that I was scared that it would burn the castle. But then I saw a red circular projection that formed in the sky. It was only for few seconds, but it scared hell out of me. So I ran away, not looking back once. I never mentioned it to anyone since my wretched daughter – in – law was already threatening to send me to mental asylum. No one would have believed me anyway._

The video stopped and I stared wide eyed at Dante.

"What does this mean?" Sophie asked instead.

"Honestly, I don't know." Sighed Dante, "But when I had this feeling that the boy she saw that night was no one but Wilson. And I was right. Apparently, Wilson used to train in the forests at night, as told by few woodcutters who would camp there in case they failed to return home on time."

"What now?" I asked.

"Something must have happened on the top floor of the castle. It looks as if Wilson was trying to summon something. So they had to be there in order to do that. I say we check out the place. I know it will be hard to find anything since it happened years ago but I say we try."

So like Dante said, we began to search the entire top floor. And like he said, it was difficult to find anything. I noticed few burn marks on the wall, which I presumed was from the lightning that struck the castle. I scanned it with the holotome, which in turn told me that it wasn't due to some natural phenomena. When I told this to Dante, he just nodded.

We all gathered at the terrace of the castle when suddenly out of nowhere we started to get attacked by some people who dressed like ninjas. Dante ordered us to take hiding inside the room that was nearest to the terrace. As we entered the room, Dante and Sophie quickly moved a couch in front of the door so that the 'ninja killers' don't barge into the room.

"Where did they come from?" I asked as I struggled to breathe.

"I don't know, but it looks someone knew we'd be here. And I'm hundred per cent sure that it's Wilson."

"Man, that guy is good at sneaking!"

"The weirdest thing is that I was sure that nobody was following us. I didn't even tell you all about the mission so as to keep it protected. There was no way the information would have spilled out."

Suddenly, the large window in front of us burst into pieces and the 'ninja killers' poured in through the hole.

The government was so going to sue them for destroying a historical site.

The 'ninja killers' then started to attack us mercilessly from all the sides. Dante and Sophie took the right and the front wing respectively while I handled the left one. Zhalia was in the back but it looked as if she really wasn't interested in stopping them. I was about to ask her why wasn't she fighting properly when all the attacks stopped.

In front of us stood Wilson, with a smirk on his face.

"Look what we have here!" he said and then started to laugh.

We all gave each other a tense look. I'd never seen Dante looking so grim.

"What do you want, Wilson?" Dante asked in a calmed tone, but I knew anger was erupting inside him.

"What do I want? Let's see my bucket list, then." He took out a neatly folded piece of paper from his pocket.

"Okay, so first on my list is...wait, why would I read my wishlist to a _stranger_?" he said in a dramatic way, which made me roll my eyes. Of course, he noticed it.

"Roll your eyes all you want, kid, for you won't be doing that once I reveal what I would do to you all!"

He then extended his hand towards us, as if he was asking for something from us. Confused, I looked at Sophie , who looked back at me with the same expression. Suddenly, I was pushed aside by Zhalia, who made her way towards Wilson. She grabbed his hand and he pulled her towards him.

"What the hell Zhalia? What are you doing?" I asked her.

She didn't answer me but just stared at me with a blank face.

"Zhalia, what is the meaning of all this?" Dante asked.

"The meaning of all this" Wilson spoke up, "is that she chose me over you."

My eyes widened.

"I don't understand…" Sophie muttered.

"Love conquers all, my dear Casterwill!" he said.

Zhalia loved this vile creature? Impossible!

"I would have killed you all right here, but then I want _you_" he pointed at Dante, "to come to our wedding and give us you 'blessings', right honey?" he asked Zhalia, to which she merely nodded.

"Well then, see you on the next new moon day." He gave an evil smile and just disappeared, along with Zhalia.

The 'ninja killers' lead us to the dungeons of the castle and tied up our hands and feet with a chain that prevented us from using our powers. We were definitely doomed.

Nobody spoke anything, and I was too numb to think about anything. Only one thing was on my mind.

Zhalia betrayed us, yet again.

* * *

**Why Zhalia why? We thought you loved Dante!**

**So what do you think of this chapter? Hit the comment button and tell me why do you think Zhalia betrayed them. Was she trying to save Dante? What the hell is happening?**

**The chapters coming up will tell you all the answers so stay tuned!**

**Also, if you have some time, check out my story on wattpad! I would really appreciate if you would read it and tell me how it was.**

**Here's the link: story/4760400-my-love-for-eternity**


	19. Moving On

**CHAPTER 18**

**Moving on**

**Sophie**

**10:15 p.m.**

**Aurel Vlaicu International Airport**

**Bucharest**

**Romania.**

"_Dante, we can't leave Zhalia like that! I'm sure she was blackmailed into doing this!" I couldn't believe I was defending her, but this wasn't really the right time to think stuffs like that._

"_She has made it very clear about her choice. We don't have much say in it. And please keep your volume low. We don't want to get caught." Lok grumbled._

"_Dante, please we can't do this. Let's get her."_

_He probably didn't hear me because he was probably concentrating on how to get us out of these dingy dungeons. Not that he'd spoken ever since Zhalia's betrayal. He was probably trying to digest all this. None of us expected it to happen and that too at the same place, where she had deceived us before when she worked for the organization. Does that mean that she was working again for those filthy pigs?_

_Fate has a cruel sense of humour._

"_Oh look! I can see light there! We've probably reached our destination." Lok said, excitement literally radiating off him._

_However, without any warning, Dante used 'Touchram' and knocked down the pile of rocks that was blocking the exit. It startled us. I looked around to make sure we didn't draw much of an attention. I was totally surprised at Dante. Never had he been so reckless._

"_You kids coming or not?"_

_He never called us kids._

_Zhalia managed to do some serious damage out here._

_Lok and I quietly followed him out._

* * *

"Hey, wake up." Someone whispered in my ears.

I opened my eyes, my vision blurring for a second before it cleared out and I saw Lok bending over me.

"Is it time?" I asked as a small yawn escaped my mouth.

"Yes. Here, let me take that bag of yours. You already have much to carry." He said as he picked up my vanity case.

I looked around for Dante, but couldn't spot him anywhere. Where was he?

As if reading my mind, Lok said, "He won't be joining us."

I looked up at him, confusion evident on my face. Sensing it again, he answered before I could ask, "He's not coming home, Sophie. He said he has something else to take care of."

"Like what?"

"I'm not sure. He only mentioned that he'll be heading to Prague."

"Is he going to visit the Organization?"

"Like I said, I don't know. He never gave me the details, no matter how much I begged him. Look, he's been through a lot. Let's just get going."

I merely nodded. I was too tired to ask further anyway.

* * *

"_How about we just leave our stuffs back in there? I'm carrying my credit card. We can just book the next ticket and get out of here." I whispered as we circled Wilson's manor. Dante apparently thought that taking back our belongings was a good idea. What happened to 'Nothing is more important than your life' rule?_

"_I don't think Dante's going to answer anytime soon. Just keep your queries to yourself. You can ask him later when his mood lightens up, which probably won't for a very, very long time."_

_Splendid._

"_This is all so confusing. We should go get Zhalia, you know." I said._

"_And how are we supposed to do it? Remember that she went with __**him **__willingly. How are you supposed to change a person's mind?"_

_It was very surprising to see Lok speaking against Zhalia since they were on good terms. What was even more surprising that I was supporting her._

"_What has gotten into you? Do you hate her so much?" I asked, curiosity getting on my nerves._

"_You've no idea, do you?" he answered._

"_Stop giving me such cryptic answers. What are you talking about?"_

_He sighed and said, "We've more important things in our hand right now. Let's finish this first then I'll tell you all once we get out of here."_

_There was no use of arguing further, so I decided to leave it like that for the time being._

* * *

"Please put on seat belt, Ma'am." An air hostess spoke in a hushed voice. I nodded and quickly did as told.

"You were about to tell me something when we were snooping around Wilson's house. I think this is a good time for all the explanations."

Lok unfairly took the window seat, which was originally supposed to be mine. I tried to convince him, but then he gave me the scariest look of the century, which made me crumble like a pack of cards. And now here I was sitting beside a fat, perverted man who couldn't keep his eyes off my legs.

"Dante is hopelessly in love with her."

My eyes went as wide as saucer.

"And how did you come to that conclusion?"

His face turned beet red.

"I just do. You're just asking too many questions. Go to sleep." He said and turned away to look outside the window once more.

"You can't leave it like that! Tell me what you know."

He didn't answer me. Instead he decided to act like a dead possum.

"Lok please stop acting so immature. Just tell me what happened."

He finally opened his eyes and gazed at me before releasing a sigh.

"Alright, Sophie. You dare not open your mouth in front of Dante though." He warned. When I nodded, he sat up straight and began speaking:

"You remember that time when I got hit on my head during the mission in Moldavia? Well, that night I had this blasted headache. Dante was the one who had my meds so I went to fetch them-"

"Wait, you got up from the bed at the middle of the night to get meds? What were you thinking? Asking for help doesn't make you less manly, you know."

"Shut up." He simply said.

"Anyway," he continued, "So I went to fetch them from Dante but I stopped outside the his room because I heard…noises."

That confused me.

"What noises?"

"Just…noises."

"I don't understand."

The fat man beside me giggled.

"You're finding our conversation very amusing, aren't you?" I asked him.

"You're innocent lass!" he said before breaking into a full-fledged laughter. Even Lok had an amused look on his face.

"What does that have to do with him being 'hopelessly in love' with her?" I asked Lok.

"Men have a unique way of showing their love for a woman." The fat man interrupted again. Lok's face turned red at the comment, though.

"Fine, don't tell me." I grumbled and covered my face with my jacket.

"I don't think this is a good place to explain all this. Let's reach home before we take this conversation any further, alright?"

I simply nodded and in no time, I was in a deep slumber.

* * *

**I know, I know, it's been ages since I last updated. I've started with my third year in college, which makes it practically impossible to update faster. But I didn't forget about anyone of you. i decided to post this one today as a birthday treat. Yes people, it's my birthday today and I've finally entered the 20's club. Gone are my teenage years, now I'm 'responsible for myself' as my dad 'politely' said. I know this one is short, but I just wanted to add something light considering how heavy the story is about to become. There are few more chapters remaining until I finish this one up. I've decided to keep 'Lost in Future' on hold till I finish up this one. I'm just too bad at multitasking. **

**Enjoy this chapter and don't forget to comment!**

**P.S.: Please refrain from using improper words while commenting. If you're not pleased with anything, put it forward politely. I'll make sure to take it into consideration. **


End file.
